


Queen's Gambit

by wankernumber9



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Getting Together, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2020-08-11 19:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20158978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wankernumber9/pseuds/wankernumber9
Summary: Family, acceptance, kindness, board games that aren't chess, and a bunch of other things Lena Luthor never thought a Super would offer.Set sometime after 2x12, "Luthors." Rapidly canon divergent.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a repost of a story I started and deleted a couple years back, but this time with proper motivation to actually finish it. :)

"All right, everybody's here," Winn announced, clapping his hands. He dug into the enormous pile of hot wings on the plate in front of him. "Let's bust out the games and get to some nerdy fun."

Kara fidgeted a bit, and looked toward the door. "Not everybody," she countered. "I invited Lena."

Her friends exchanged loaded looks that quite escaped Kara's preoccupied notice. Maggie, as the group's resident newbie, took her "pointing out the painfully obvious" duties very seriously. "Yeesh, Kara," she said with a wince. "Awkward."

"It doesn't have to be," Kara insisted. "Lena's _nice_, and she's only ever tried to help me." She blushed a bit and fiddled with her glasses. "_Us_," she corrected. "And she needs a place to belong. Why can't that be with me?"

Maggie squinted at her.

"_Us_," Kara corrected again. "Us, as in this family 'thing' that we do even though we're not all related," she continued, with an expansive gesture that encompassed them all and nearly knocked a bottle of wine off the counter.

"Awkward," Maggie repeated, in a mocking singsong. She accepted the beer Alex offered her, then lifted it in a toast to the impending spectacle of Danvers family game night.

Kara sighed, and twisted her fingers together. "I hope she comes."

"When did you invite her, anyway?" Winn asked, around a mouthful of pizza rolls. "Last I heard, you were still trying to talk yourself into it."

Alex, Maggie, and James all turned back toward Kara in amused curiosity. 

"You didn't hear that," Kara argued.

"Sure I did," Winn said. "Your comms were hot while you were patrolling the other night. You were practicing out loud."

"Crap," Kara breathed. She covered her face with her hands.

"A friendly reminder," Alex interjected in a rather less-than-friendly tone. "We're talking about a civilian, so we keep the conversation superhero-free tonight. Understood?"

Everyone murmured in agreement, then suddenly Kara lurched toward the door. "She's here," she announced, then she yanked open the door and leaned out into the hall, where Lena had just exited the elevator. "Lena! Hi!" Kara called, far too loudly for the space and distance.

Maggie snickered in amusement and bumped her shoulder into Alex's. "Definitely superhero-free so far," she cracked.

Alex fought off a scowl, trying for Kara's sake to at least appear non-threatening. Lena had shot a man to protect her, had fought Cadmus to protect Supergirl, and was, by all indications, a good friend to Kara. She was brilliant and powerful, and with any other last name she would have been welcomed to the group immediately.

She grit her teeth. Literally _any_ other. Last. Name.

Kara pulled Lena into the apartment by the hand, grinning in that face-splitting way that was ridiculously contagious. "Guys, Lena's here!" she said. "Lena, I think you've met... Well, okay. That's Alex, and Maggie - her girlfriend - who, you know... arrested you. And you met Winn under the stage at the gala, and that's James, who's friends with Clark, who... yeah."

With a bemused grin, and very aware of Kara's fingers wrapped around her own, Lena made a game attempt at a normal greeting. "Um, hello. Thanks for having me," she said. With her free hand, she held up a six pack of bottled beer as an offering. "One of my VPs owns a microbrewery that is supposed to be fairly popular..."

Maggie swooped in and grabbed the beer. "Oh, hot _damn_. These are not easy to come by." She turned to Kara on her way to deliver the beer to the fridge. "She can stay," Maggie pronounced.

Kara positively beamed.

* * *

To no one's great surprise, Lena was really good at _Risk_. As she built an absolutely unstoppable global army, the food and drink flowed easily, as did the casual chatter.

"So Cat comes _screeching_ out of her office, absolutely _incensed_ about the lack of blueberries in her yogurt," Winn says between bouts of laughter, recalling the absurdity of the Cat Grant Episode in question.

At that, James piped in, lifting his voice in a comically bad approximation of his boss' tone. "I dated Billy Idol in the Eighties, _Keira_. What makes you think I appreciate flavorless mush for breakfast?"

Kara chuckled. "I kept trying to explain that blueberries were out of season, and that I had _no_ idea who Billy Idol was," she said. "I even flew to South America and got her fresh berries for lunch, but she don't think she even noticed."

Alex was only half paying attention to the story, but she tensed in reflex, ready to knock an elbow into her beer and launch it into her own lap to distract from the latest Weirdly Incongruous Alien Thing Kara Had Uttered. Finding effective ways to yank attention away from her sister had long been second nature, though she seemed to need the skill more frequently since Kara had started hanging around a certain Luthor.

She scanned the table to judge the level of reaction. Maggie was grinning and shaking her head. James and Winn were just giving Kara that amused, adoring look they always gave her. James, Winn... and Lena, Alex realized belatedly.

Huh. That was unexpected. And the adoring look didn't wane after Lena very deliberately lost the game to Kara's inferior forces, or after a round of _Monopoly_ turned into failed capitalist chaos. Lena was perfectly genial to the entire group, but her main attention was most definitely focused on Kara.

"Gaydar" was still a pretty abstract concept for Alex, so she decided just to apply basic scientific observation. She set aside her beer, half-finished, and switched into evidence gathering mode.

As the evening wore on, Alex watched Lena prop her chin in her hand and lean closer to Kara, then reach up with her free hand to rescue a dab of barbecue sauce from the tip of Kara's nose.

She watched Kara grin and stutter and blush in response, and watched Lena take it in with obvious affection.

Later, Alex watched in absolute astonishment as Kara offered up the very last of her homemade lemon bars to Lena. That was remarkable enough on its own that Alex almost missed the part where Lena neatly cut the bar in half and offered the remainder back to Kara.

And it could _not_ have been a coincidence when Lena reached out to poke Kara in the chest to tease her, and let her finger draw a lazy "S" in a curlicue just below her collar.

"Oh boy," Alex muttered, then hid a grimace behind a long pull at her forgotten beer bottle, which was now unpleasantly warm. She made a weird gurgling noise and coughed until Maggie poked her in the thigh and tilted her head a bit in question, but Alex waved her off.

By the end of the evening, they had all ended up pairing off. James and Winn continued some animated, geeky argument about the relative merits of their favorite video games, Alex and Maggie were snuggled together in a haphazard pile on the couch, and Kara and Lena were in the kitchen, sharing dish duty and laughing about... something.

Despite Maggie's prediction, the evening hadn't been at all awkward. Lena was quite charming, and had somehow put a flaily Kara at ease. Even now, while Lena flicked soap suds at Kara and chatted about some new project at L-Corp, Kara was relaxed, engaged, and happy - something Alex hadn't seen from her sister in a long time.

She started a bit when Maggie bumped against her arm and leaned in closer. She'd more than made up for Alex's lack of indulgence during the evening, and was very pleasantly fuzzy. "Are you _seeing_ all the gay shit up in here?" she slurred under her breath.

With that, Alex computed the sum of evidence she'd gathered that evening, and decided two things:

One: Kara was, without a doubt, crushing _hard_ on a certain Luthor, and Two: Said Luthor knew, incontrovertibly, Supergirl's secret identity.

Alex wasn't sure which one of those facts made her life more difficult.

She loosed a profound sigh and scrubbed a hand across her face. "Yup, that is some seriously gay shit," she agreed.

* * *

"The answer is no," J'onn said, without looking up from a screen displaying a live feed of radiation readouts across National City.

"I didn't even ask you anything!" Alex protested.

"I'm not disclosing anything I may have learned from my brief interactions with Lena Luthor," he said. "It's an invasion of privacy, and I refuse to do that without cause."

Alex held her hand out. "But you just read _my_ mind without my permission," she accused. 

J'onn straightened, and exhaled an impatient noise. "You were basically screaming in your head for me to notice," he replied. "So I did."

She had the good grace to look embarrassed, but she pressed onward. "If Kara gets compromised, then we're all at risk."

J'onn studied her with narrowed eyes. "Do you trust your sister?"

"You know I do," Alex replied in exasperation.

"Good. Keep doing that." J'onn returned his attention to the console readouts, having clearly dismissed her.

* * *

Trust, it turned out, was a funny thing.

Alex was pacing in the elevator at L-Corp, wondering what exactly she was going to do now that she was there. As always, she told herself her motives were only to protect Kara, and by extension the DEO and Earth itself.

She knew Kara had a blind spot for this particular human with her very particular family history, so she was just going to address it. No failure of trust implied. Just doing her duty.

Which is why she absolutely, positively, did not feel like a lying sack of crap who was in the process of betraying her sister.

The door opened, and Alex stepped out and flashed her badge at Lena's assistant. The assistant promptly scuttled off to alert the CEO of her presence, then escorted Alex into the office.

"Agent Danvers," Lena greeted, tentatively. She stood and rounded her desk. "What can I do for you?"

Alex decided it was easiest to just skip the polite preamble. "I need to ask you some questions," she began.

Lena frowned and folded her arms. "In an official capacity? Should I summon my attorney?"

Alex grit her teeth. It was a perfectly valid question to ask a of law enforcement officer making an unexpected visit, and did absolutely nothing to make Alex feel less like a schmuck. "Not those kind of questions," she said. "I need to know what it is that you want from Kara," she continued, putting her hands on her hips in her favorite "intimidate the perp" stance. She tilted her chin in a calculated challenge. "And from Supergirl."

Lena lifted her eyebrows in delicate surprise. "Oh, so we're through with that particular pretense? Interesting. And you bullied your way past my assistant with your badge for... what? Some kind of shovel talk?"

"I'm here because I love my sister," Alex said, sidestepping those additional, entirely valid questions. "The world needs her, and I won't let anyone hurt her."

Lena folded her arms as well and waited for the inevitable threat, the sneering distrust.

"But if I'm honest, you could have hurt her a hundred ways already, and you haven't," Alex said, surprising herself. She worked her tongue against her teeth, recalculating her approach, as the words she'd intended to say no longer fit. "She trusts you, and I trust her," she added, as her voice lost its sharp edge, and she let her shoulders drop. "So here we are."

"Here we are," Lena agreed after a beat. She relaxed minutely, very aware that Alex was cataloging her every move.

"How long have you known?" Alex asked.

With a humorless chuckle, Lena turned and strolled over to a shelf. "About Kara and her cousin? Since before I moved to National City. Lex had compiled very detailed files about the last known Kryptonians," she continued, as she pressed a hidden button and plucked a flash drive from a compartment that dropped open below. "This is the only remaining copy of those files," she said, before crossing the room to hand the drive to Alex. "They are encrypted, and I will provide the key upon request by the DEO, though I suspect Mr. Schott would be able to crack them without any help."

Alex blinked in surprise. "You're just _giving_ me your files." She didn't even bother addressing Lena's assumption that Winn worked for the DEO as well.

"My brother's files," Lena corrected. "Yes." 

"Why?"

Lena frowned. "I came here at least partially to make up for his mistakes. I wanted to prove that a Luthor could be a force for good. I didn't imagine that I would ever actually become Kara's friend, much less..." She inhaled sharply. "Well. Consider it a gesture of good faith. Perhaps L-Corp and the DEO could someday become partners."

"Because of Kara," Alex challenged.

"Because we share a common set of goals," Lena replied. Under Alex's hard scrutiny, she bowed her head. "_And_ because I want to help protect Kara," she added.

Alex weighed the veracity of that statement, bouncing the flash drive idly in the palm of her hand. The one thing she'd learned since Clark had left Kara with her family was that one didn't just pop in to occasionally "help" a superhero. It was a calling, a life-changing mission that each one of her sister's companions had willingly borne. She couldn't yet guess whether that sort of all-consuming devotion would scare Lena off, or pull her all the way in - but she was going to find out.

"Do you know what the symbol on her suit is?" she asked. "The 'S'?"

"It's the crest of the house of El," Lena replied, impassive.

"It's the crest of the house of... _Jesus_. Just how detailed are these files?!" Alex asked, her voice rising in alarm.

Lena only shrugged. "Lex always was resourceful."

Alex stared at the flash drive in her hand and tucked it away carefully in her pocket. "Yeah. Anyway, it's also her family's motto. _El mayarah_. It means 'stronger together.'"

That, at least, appeared to be new information. Alex could see the genuine, open curiosity across the other woman's face, and for the first time, Alex's own prejudice didn't color her perception with bad intentions that weren't actually there. Dammit. Lena actually did seem _nice_.

She owed Kara an apology or six.

"So, when we were kids, Kara had a habit of collecting orphaned animals around the neighborhood," Alex continued. "Kittens abandoned by their moms, that kind of thing. The summer before she left for college, Mom made her find good homes for all those strays. I think she still flies back once in a while to walk that one golden retriever." She shook her head to get back to her point. "Anyway. Cute things with pretty eyes and a sad story are more kryptonite than kryptonite for Kara. It's just how she is." She tilted her head down to fix Lena with a pointed look from under her lashes. "You may have noticed."

"I'm not sure I appreciate the comparison to a helpless animal," Lena complained with a scoff. Her already-dramatic eyebrows were threatening to leave her forehead entirely.

"Not actually my point," Alex countered, with an impatient gesture. "Kara forges her family as she goes, and she doesn't leave anyone behind. Not since she had to leave _everything_ behind." She paused and took a step forward, lowering her voice. "Kara's taken you in, Lena. That means you're already one of us. I need you to understand what that means to her. To us."

She watched as Lena ducked her head, trying to keep her composure. "I know family has been... complicated... for you," Alex said, aiming for some kind of delicacy on the topic. "It's complicated for Kara, too. But once you've earned her trust... That's pretty much unbreakable. She's already claimed you. _Stronger together_."

Lena shivered a little at the notion that she'd been "claimed" by a Super, and looked back up to meet Alex's gaze squarely. "And that is an honor I would never betray," she promised.

"I believe you," Alex said softly, meaning it. An odd peace settled between them, as they acknowledged the depth of each other's fealty. "So," Alex continued with a vague shrug. "Welcome to the family, I guess. Sorry most of us have been jerks. We'll get better." She paused and squinted into some unknown middle distance, imagining a particularly punchable Daxamite face. "Probably."

Lena exhaled a faint laugh. "I admit, this was _not_ how I expected this conversation to go."

"Me neither," Alex admitted with a rueful grin. "But that's kind of what happens when you love Kara."

"I never said..." Lena protested.

Alex waved her off. "Whatever. Just... keep making her smile like she does whenever you walk into the damned room."

Lena's expression immediately softened to a sort of charmed wonder, and Alex rolled her eyes. "Gah," she muttered, annoyed in the extreme by the cuteness she had avoided noticing for so long.

After a moment, Lena cocked her head. "Does Kara know you're here?"

"No," Alex admitted. "She also doesn't know that I know that you know." She scowled, validating the mental math on that statement, then nodded. "I didn't tell her I was coming to talk to you."

With that, she reached to her ear and tapped her comms. "Supergirl, you still patrolling? We've got a situation at L-Corp."

Lena started, and tried to object, but it was no use. Supergirl appeared at the balcony within seconds, landing with a heavy thud and immediately pushing her way past the glass door.

"What's wrong?" she demanded. She crossed and put a gentle hand on Lena's shoulder. "Ms. Luthor, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lena said with a weak laugh. "I was just giving your sister some information the DEO might find useful."

"My sis..." Kara blinked, and flicked an alarmed look over at Alex. 

Alex held up her hands. "She already knew."

"Oh," Kara murmured. She turned back to Lena, letting her reflexively heroic posture droop just a bit. "I've been trying to find a good time to tell you," she murmured.

"It's okay," Lena assured her, pitching her voice low and intimate to match Kara's. "I understand."

Alex watched as they shifted into each other's personal space, and realized she was suddenly quite superfluous to the conversation. "I'll just see myself out," she muttered, and turned to go while Maggie's teasing about "gay shit" rang in her ears.

"Agent Danvers," Lena called after her. 

"Alex," Alex corrected with a tiny smile. 

"Alex. Did you mean... what you said earlier?"

"Stronger together," Alex confirmed, smirking at her sister's immediate surprise. She pointed at Kara. "We'll talk later," she ordered, in the bossy sibling tone that brooked no argument. "But," she added - with a thoughtful look, and a nod to her absent girlfriend's impeccable judgement - "She can stay."

Kara watched Alex leave, then smiled shyly at Lena. "Did she threaten you or anything? 'Cause if she did..."

"She didn't," Lena assured her. "She may have implied that I'm merely a pathetic stray that you've decided to rescue, however."

"What?!" Kara squawked. "That is absolutely _not_ true. You're brilliant, and kind, and tough..." She stepped closer, taking gentle hold of Lena's arms, and trailed off when she got distracted by the sparkle of Lena's eyes. She sighed, then dropped her hands. "And you deserved better than to be lied to from the moment we met. I'm _so_ sorry."

"Neither of us were being particularly truthful," Lena replied. "I'm sorry as well."

"So, Lex knew? About me?" Kara guessed, with a frown at Lena's affirmative nod. "Does Lillian?"

"I don't know," Lena replied. "I'm not sure it matters, to be honest."

Kara stepped away and paced a little, fists balled at her side. "It matters if it puts the people I care about at risk," she said.

"They weren't any less at risk while you were Kara Danvers, mild-mannered reporter," Lena argued. "While we've been friends."

The last word tripped off Lena's tongue gracelessly, and Kara ended her pacing lap a few steps early to turn back toward Lena, cape flaring around her and eyes intense. "I think we're more than friends," Kara declared in a low voice.

Lena took a moment to soak that in, feeling the impact of those words deep in her gut. She folded her hands together in front of herself. "I suppose we are," she agreed.

Kara was shaking her head in frustration. "So stupid," she muttered. "I was so caught up with _liking_ you that I forgot..."

"Oh, so... you _do_ like me?" Lena asked with a smile.

"Of course I do," Kara said, annoyed. "But I have responsibilities..."

"Because I quite like you, as well," Lena replied, neatly cutting off Kara's impending superhero-accountability spiel. "In case that wasn't perfectly obvious. Like a disguise made up of glasses and a ponytail."

"Please stop being charming," Kara grumbled. "You're missing the point. This isn't... I don't _get_ to do 'casual' or 'flirtatious.' There's nothing _casual_ about being part of my life."

Lena ducked her head, conceding the point. "I believe your sister was trying to convey as much," she said. "But I actually knew what I was getting into from the beginning. And I'm still here, if you'll have me. As a friend, or..."

"Or," Kara murmured. She canted her head, seeing Lena and their interactions in a whole new light. "You've known all along," she breathed out.

"You can imagine how strange it was to have two Supers in my office that first time," Lena demurred with a faint smile. "You were not quite what I was expecting."

"Medusa, Cadmus..." Kara continued, replaying Lena's kidnapping in her mind, and remembering her desperate plea.

_ **Don't hurt her!** _

She remembered the fear etched across Lena's face as Kara battled a cyborg Hank Henshaw.

Then Kara scowled. "The gala," she said, in a flat voice.

Lena laughed sharply. "I was waiting for you to get to that."

"You invited me twice, and you _knew_ it," Kara said, annoyed. She folded her arms and tried very hard to look properly grumpy.

"Oh, Kara. I had to," Lena replied. "_Supergirl_ was my insurance. _You_ were my date. Also, your improvisation that night was... remarkable."

Kara reeled. "I was your _date_?" she demanded. "We've already been on a date and I missed it?!"

"At least it was memorable?" Lena offered.

"Enough," Kara said firmly, with a slashing gesture. "Stop deflecting."

"All right," Lena agreed. "But you'll notice, we've navigated a fair amount of risk already." She spread her hands to indicate the space between them, and the decided lack of terrible explosions in their proximity. "And we're okay."

Kara had to acknowledge as much. Even when she thought her secret was keeping Lena safe, it wasn't. And despite the risk, they'd made it out of all those scrapes together.

Together. This brilliant, beautiful, _burdened_ woman, had cast her lot in with Kara without being asked, and fought against her own family to try to be better, a force for good, a hero in her own right.

With a sigh, Kara stepped closer, and lifted a hand to tug an errant lock of dark hair away from Lena's face. "We _are_ okay," she allowed. "And I hated not being honest with you."

Lena pushed in nearer, holding Kara's gaze with matching intensity. "Be honest with me now," she whispered.

It was a fair request. Kara swallowed and shut her eyes. "I think I'm falling in love with you," she said. She started at the touch of Lena's fingertips against her cheek, and opened her eyes again.

"I knew that, too," Lena said with a small, but joyous smile.

Kara snorted, and felt like she was flying, falling, tipping headlong into Lena's eyes. She actually looked down for a moment to make sure her feet were still firmly on the floor.

"Are you all right?" Lena asked.

"You make me dizzy," Kara admitted, with a breathless laugh.

At that, Lena stepped in, pressing her forehead to Kara's. "The feeling is very mutual," she replied. She rested her hands at Kara's hips, hoping the solid contact might steady her equilibrium.

Kara closed her eyes, took a deep, calming breath, and settled in to the embrace. She folded her arms loosely around Lena's and let herself bask in the security and affection she'd always felt from her friend.

That was something Kara had never managed to explain to Alex, for fear of making her sad - that she felt _safe_ with Lena, in a way she almost never did with anyone else. She didn't have a perfect way to define it, since human senses were as limited as the language describing them, but everyone had a "tell," a way their bodies broadcast their mind's intentions.

Lena's intentions were, to Kara's keen perception, only ever open, and honest, and trustworthy... and a touch amorous, if she allowed herself to notice.

Kara could understand why Lena's attention was inherently risky, but she just couldn't care. She absolutely craved the sensation of company that didn't come with extra strain or worry. And if that comfort came at the cost of perpetually acting like a goofy dork in Lena's proximity, that was a price she was willing to pay.

"Would you have told me eventually?" Lena asked after a moment while they drifted together.

"Oh yeah. I totally had a plan," Kara said, boldly. She blushed, leaned away, and rubbed at her face a bit. "I was going to ask you to dinner, and tell you then," she said.

"Dinner... as Kara, or as Supergirl?" Lena asked, with a grin. She shuffled a bit closer and let her hands slide up Kara's back, feeling more confident as the normally unflappable superhero stammered.

Kara hesitated, then sighed in dejection and tossed her arms back against her cape. "It wasn't a very good plan," she admitted.

Lena chuckled, then leaned up to press a kiss to Kara's cheek. "I would have said yes," she said, in a low voice. "Regardless of who had asked." After a moment, her gaze wandered and turned thoughtful. She snuck one hand out from under Kara's cape and lifted it to trace careful fingertips against the symbol on Kara's chest. She could feel the rise and fall of Kara's breath underneath, the warmth of the skin radiating against her own. "I didn't know what this meant. Alex tried to explain."

Kara waited, sensing Lena's struggle to articulate. 

"It's... it's everything you are," Lena said.

Exhaling a gasp of surprise at the simplicity of that explanation, Kara nodded. "It's why I'm here," she whispered.

"El mayarah," Lena murmured, testing the words on her tongue. She felt Kara shudder against her, and reveled in the heady power of that sensation. "Alex said... that you 'claim' people, as family. That you'd claimed _me_."

Kara sensed she was suddenly on very uncertain ground, and she looked around for any steady points to anchor to. "Only if that's something you want," she said.

"I..." Lena thought better of that start, and shook her head. "'Family' is not something I've ever really known how to do," Lena said. "But for you? I'd learn." She looked up again, and managed a watery smile. "Stronger together," she declared.

Kara felt her entire world tilt on its axis. For years, those words had been a tie to a world nearly forgotten, a threadbare bond with a wayward cousin, and a slogan to rally her human friends. For the first time, she heard them as a _vow_, and it absolutely rocked her. She covered Lena's fingers with her own, pressing their joined hands against her heart.

"Stronger together," she said in reply, hoping the quiet statement conveyed the depth of _everything_ in the air between them. 

The words hit home, hard. Lena inhaled and shut her eyes, letting a tremor rattle across her limbs.

Kara smiled, then pulled Lena in for a gentle hug. She pressed her face against Lena's soft hair, and just held on through the trembling. "You know, I _do_ have super strength," Kara said seriously. "I could help with some of that burden you're carrying, if you like."

Lena sniffled and managed a weak chuckle as she pulled away. "Says the woman carrying the weight of _two_ worlds," she said. She exhaled shakily, feeling emotionally wrung out from the revelations of the day. "I'd like that, though," she admitted.

"On one condition," Kara said. She leaned back and flashed a rakish grin. "Take me on a _proper_ date," she decreed, before her usual shyness could get the better of her. "One that I actually know is happening. With dinner and dancing. No alien weaponry allowed."

Lena swiped the back of her hand across her cheeks and managed a smile. "Fine. Would you please - at your own insistence, mind you - join me for dinner this evening?"

Kara's eyes narrowed. "And dancing."

"With _minimal_ alien weaponry," Lena added. "I happen to like you a little dangerous."

Kara pretended to think about that offer for a moment. "Okay," she agreed. With that settled, she relaxed, rolling her shoulders. She tilted her head in a sweet and genuinely happy way Lena suspected almost no one got to see. "The world didn't _feel_ right until you showed up, you know? Like I was just waiting for you to be exactly where you belonged."

Lena's eyes went wide as she fought off yet another bout of melancholy. "I've never 'belonged' anywhere."

"Well, now you do," Kara replied, confident and just a tad possessive. "And if I know my sister, she's already browbeating our friends to make sure they're nice to you." She smirked. "So they have the chance to see what I saw all along."

"I'll prove you right," Lena vowed.

Kara took hold of Lena's hand, and brought it to her lips. "You have nothing to prove," she declared, as she pressed a delicate kiss to Lena's fingers. "But you can stay - with me - as long as you want to."

The casual power of that promise knocked the air from Lena's lungs, and it was all she could do to stay upright, clinging to Kara's hand.

"I have to go for now," Kara said, sporting a goofy grin. "I have to get ready for a _date_." 

"Best not to keep the lady waiting," Lena agreed, weakly.

"Yeah," Kara agreed. "We should really just get to the 'happily ever after' part." She held Lena's gaze while she backed toward the door to the balcony, then bonked loudly into the glass. She sighed. "Someday I'll be smooth," she said. "Just maybe not today." With that, she slipped outside and launched herself into the sky.

Lena doubted that. "I look forward to it," she called anyway, knowing Kara would hear her. She laughed when she saw the vague outline of a red cape doing lazy flips across the National City skyline, feeling her heart flip right along with it.


	2. Chapter 2

Alex was surprised that she wasn't all that surprised. 

At some point while she tumbled in midair, time slowed, letting her study the scene around her. There was Maggie, wide-eyed and reaching for her. There was Lena Luthor, fiercely determined as she swept Alex's feet out from under her. 

Kara... was already gone.

The inevitability of it all was really pretty embarrassing.

When Alex hit the ground, the world went mute beyond the ringing in her ears. She was vaguely aware of Maggie crawling her direction, calling her name. Lena remained watchful, waiting, ready to strike again. 

Suddenly Maggie's face was looming above her own. She was... laughing? 

"Oh hell, Danvers. Did the newbie ring your bell?" Maggie asked, with a rueful look as she chuckled. She put gentle hands on Alex's face to hold her still on the training mat, and watched her eyes for any telltale sluggish response. 

Alex groaned, more in humiliation than pain. 

Lena immediately dropped her defensive stance, and looked _horrified_. "Oh my God, Alex. Are you okay?" 

"She's fine," Maggie said wryly. "Just got the wind knocked out of her." She looked back down at Alex and stroked her forehead. "Kara's gonna be _pissed_ she missed that." 

Alex closed her eyes and sighed. She was never gonna hear the end of this.

* * *

Kara swept up alongside her sister, matching Alex's determined stride down the DEO corridor. She could feel her cape swinging dramatically in time with their steps, and imagined they looked quite imposing. 

It felt _awesome_.

"Sorry I had to leave earlier. Snapper actually takes attendance at his editorial meetings," Kara said, in her usual official-Supergirl-business octave.

"Mmhmm," Alex replied.

"So..."

Alex stopped walking, and waited with an impatient look.

"How did the self defense lesson go?" Kara asked, with a sunny smile. 

Alex pointed at her. "You get _one_ joke," she warned. 

"Because it _sounded_ like you got your ass kicked," Kara continued, as she folded her arms. "Which is weird, 'cause I'm pretty sure I remember you saying something about 'there's no way Lena Luthor can look after herself in a fight.'" 

"And we're done," Alex declared, as she stomped away.

Kara cackled, then turned to wander back out. Celebratory donuts were in order.

* * *

"Ma'am? Ms. Danvers to see you," Jess announced.

"Thank you, Jess," Lena said, with a wide smile that was entirely reflexive as Kara sauntered in. 

"All hail the conquering hero!" Kara crowed, as she held up a bag of donuts. "I hear you had a good morning." 

Lena stepped over and plucked the treats from Kara's hand. "It was _mortifying_," she said, then leaned in with a smirk. "But mostly just for your sister." She opened the bag, and hummed in delight when she noticed that Kara had once again gotten her favorite flavor. 

With a chuckle, Kara plunked down in her favorite spot on the couch. "I tried to tell her," she said. "I mean, she literally watched you shoot a man. She knows you can take care of yourself." 

Lena sat next to her and tore her donut into delicate pieces before popping them into her mouth. "I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm dangerous enough without adding in the fact that my mother is a paranoid psychopath who made sure her children received advanced martial arts and weapons training from the age of ten." 

"She doesn't think you're dangerous," Kara argued with a frown. The rest of the statement about Lena's mom was... harder to refute. 

Lena lifted her eyebrows in disbelief, then finished off her donut and made a show of licking the remaining sugar off her fingers. 

Kara's eyes went wide, and she coughed a bit before looking away. 

Teasing Kara had been one of Lena's favorite pastimes even before the undramatic reveal of her identity as Supergirl, but now, as they grew closer, it gave her an undeniably wicked thrill to lead Kara's thoughts astray. 

She scooted closer, turning to stretch her arm across the back of the couch. The nape of Kara's neck was just within reach, and she ran her fingers across the soft skin exposed at Kara's collar. 

Kara looked back at her, with a smolder in her eyes that Lena found absolutely intoxicating. 

"What do you think?" Lena asked, pitching her voice to a near purr. "Am I 'dangerous?'" 

A knock at the door broke Kara's trance, and she nearly jumped off the couch. 

"Ms. Luthor, your two o'clock appointment is here," came Jess' ever-helpful voice across the office. 

"Thank you, Jess," Lena called. She dragged her fingertips softly down Kara's arm as she stood, then offered her hand to help Kara up as well. 

"I should go," Kara said. She looked around for the notebook she hadn't actually brought with her, then fidgeted in the absence of her usual social prop. 

"I think you're going to want to stay," Lena countered, with a knowing smile, before J'onn J'onzz walked in. 

"Ms. Danvers," he said by way of greeting. "Ms. Luthor. I believe you both know why I'm here." 

In point of fact, Kara had _no goddamned idea_, and she balled her fists, ready for a fight. So far the DEO had not been at all inclined to give Lena the benefit of the doubt. 

"Indeed, Director Henshaw," Lena replied. "Thank you for coming." 

What. The. Hell. Kara was eyeballing the balcony, ready to grab Lena and swoop her to safety. Why was Lena so calm? What was J'onn doing? 

"By order of the President of the United States, it is my honor to request your assistance at the Department of Extra-Normal Operations," he said formally. "You have demonstrated your allegiance and commitment to our mission. We could use your help, Ms. Luthor." 

"Of course. I accept," Lena replied with a smile. 

Kara blinked a few times in shock. Do _what_ now?! 

"Good," J'onn said with a warm smile, as he extended his hand. Lena shook it eagerly, then he turned to Kara. "Ms. Danvers, could you please pass a message along to Supergirl and ask her show Ms. Luthor to our location at her earliest convenience?" 

"Uh. Yes? Yes. Yes, I will pass that along. To Supergirl," Kara stammered. 

J'onn gave her his usual tolerant look, then nodded a farewell to Lena before leaving. 

Lena turned to Kara, not even bothering to hide a smug grin. 

"What. What just happened?" Kara asked. 

"Your boss - your _other_ boss - just offered me a job," Lena said. She folded her arms, looking defiant, confident, and ridiculously powerful. 

Holy hell, that was hot.

"By order of the President? Like, _the_ President?" Kara asked. 

"Well, I was one of her largest campaign contributors," Lena demurred. "And she asked me to sit on her tech advisory committee..." 

Kara exhaled a noise that could have charitably been described as a honk. 

Lena laughed kindly, and put her hand on Kara's arm. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you like that. Director Henshaw... is that his real name?" 

Pressing her fingers to her forehead, Kara loosed a sigh of frustration. "It's complicated." 

"Because he looks an awful lot like that cyborg who tried to kill you in my lobby," Lena said. 

"I really wish you weren't so observant," Kara muttered. 

"Anyway," Lena continued. "Your director contacted me last week requesting a meeting, and some contacts in the intelligence community gave me a heads-up that I was being vetted for something significant." 

"Because you're friends with the President," Kara concluded, with a shrug that indicated she really should have guessed as much. 

"And because I'm a brilliant technical mind with vast international resources at my command," Lena concluded, with a rakish grin. "So if you would be so kind as to pass along that message to Supergirl..."

* * *

Try as she might, not even Lena could be perfectly calm as she took in the sheer technological grandeur of the DEO. 

"You're practically drooling," Kara whispered at her shoulder. 

"This is _amazing_," Lena whispered back. 

"Welcome to the DEO, Ms. Luthor," J'onn called cordially, as he stepped out of the command center. Alex followed a few steps behind, and gave Lena a friendly nod. 

"Thank you," Lena replied, managing to school her composure to something resembling her normal cool façade. "I look forward to contributing to the mission." 

"Excellent. Do you need anything?" J'onn asked. "HR can provide you with a parking pass..." 

Lena exhaled a faint, incredulous laugh. "No, thank you. My driver can attend to his own parking." 

"Very well. Mr. Schott is anxiously awaiting your assistance in the lab downstairs," J'onn said. "Agent Vasquez will show you the way." 

Vasquez popped up from behind a console, and nodded to Kara as she relinquished escort duty. 

"Have fun," Kara called. She turned to follow J'onn and Alex into the command center for a briefing. 

Lena managed to tear her attention from the volumes of data swirling across the screens around her, and skipped after Vasquez. "Do you think I could get a thigh holster?" she asked. 

Alex scowled as she watched them go. "I've never gotten a parking pass," she grumbled. 

J'onn ignored her, and launched into his briefing.

* * *

After six exhausting, exhilarating hours in the lab helping Winn perfect his latest algorithm for predicting Cadmus' attacks, Lena wandered out, rubbing the tension out of her neck. 

She spotted Kara on the catwalk above the command center, and found her way to the stairs to wander up next to her. "Hey there, Supergirl," she called softly. 

Kara turned and smiled at her. "Ms. Luthor," she said, with a dip of her head. "How was your first day on the job?" 

"I think Winn has _forgotten_ more about probabilistic computing than I ever learned," Lena replied, then grinned in a dazzling way. "It was a lot of fun." 

With a chuckle, Kara prompted her to share some details, then shepherded her around the main deck to look in on some of the other projects in progress. One by one, the DEO agents at their stations reported on their work to Lena, who never failed to ask sharp, insightful questions, or to offer help. One by one, the agents relaxed, accepting their new ally at Supergirl's side.

* * *

Watching from the command center, Alex nearly rolled her eyes. Kara's play on the DEO's collective nerdiness was so _obvious_, but it was working perfectly to Lena's advantage. She even noticed J'onn almost-smiling in that vaguely approving way of his. 

She put her hands on her hips. "You _like_ Lena." 

"I do," he agreed. 

"That's weird, for you," Alex said, bluntly. 

He gave her a sideways look. "Your sister is one of my favorite people," he said, as if that made everything perfectly clear. 

Alex blinked. "Okay."

"I am privileged to know her and stand beside her," he added. "I love her like family, and I would do anything to help her."

"I mean... I know that," Alex replied in a more gentle voice, after a long beat during which it became clear J'onn didn't care to elaborate further. 

He tilted his head with an enigmatic smile. "I appreciate people who agree with me." He looked across the deck, to where Lena stood at Kara's side, studying the projected map of Cadmus' activity updated against the new algorithm Winn and Lena had produced. 

Alex followed his gaze, and took a moment to see what he saw. For a moment she could swear she shared his telepathy, because Lena's unconditional regard for Kara practically radiated across the room. Alex's own annoyance, and her continued snarky distrust felt shameful in the wake of just how much Lena obviously cared about her sister. 

"Oh," she breathed. "Yeah."

J'onn patted her shoulder, then turned and walked away.

* * *

A week went by. Kara invited Lena to join her for the National City Food Fair, and they held hands while they ate ice cream and passed stalls of every kind of fried food imaginable. Lena split her time between L Corp and the DEO, and Kara managed to find her at least once a day to talk over work, or anything but work. 

One afternoon, after a particularly stressful day of trying to convince a colony of Aloi to accept relocation outside the city, Kara dropped to a light landing on the balcony of Lena's office. 

Rather than wave her in the door as usual, Lena strode across the office and stepped out to the balcony. "What's wrong?" Lena asked. 

"Would you... I need to get out of the city," Kara explained, in lurching syllables. "Would you come with me?" 

"Of course," Lena said immediately. She could feel the agitation coming off Kara in waves. Lena returned to her desk to pick up her phone and have Jess cancel the remainder of her meetings for the day, then set her phone to Do Not Disturb mode. She stepped back out to the balcony, where Kara was pacing and flexing her fists in a rhythmic motion. 

"Are you all right?" Lena asked gently. She watched as Kara forced herself to relax. 

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm okay," Kara said, distracted. "Can I?" she made a motion toward Lena with her arms outstretched. Lena took her cue to wrap her arms around Kara's strong shoulders and let herself be lifted. 

She still didn't _like_ flying, but the occasional ride with Supergirl was something Lena was getting used to. 

Sometimes their flights were leisurely and relaxed, and Kara flew slowly so they could chat without being drowned out by the wind. Today, though, Kara was on a mission, and wasn't taking her time. The ground blurred past them in a dizzying rush, and it was all Lena could do to tuck her face against Kara's neck and try to catch her breath. 

Within a few minutes, the deafening rush of air receded and Lena could instead hear the roar of the ocean. She lifted her head as Kara landed and saw a peaceful beach, thankfully empty of other visitors. 

Kara carefully set Lena on her feet on the sand, then smiled faintly as Lena braced herself against Kara's shoulder to kick off her heels. Kara reached up to pat down Lena's wind-wild hair. "Sorry about that," she said. "I might have been going a little faster than usual." 

"That's quite all right," Lena replied. "Though you have ruined me for commercial air travel forever." She looked around. "Where are we?" 

"An island off Mexico," Kara answered. "I've always liked this beach. It's nice and quiet." 

Lena nodded with a speculative glance, and smoothed her hand against the wrinkles in her skirt. "Well, I suppose no one ever asks Supergirl for her passport," she mused. She took Kara's hand in her own, very aware of the other woman's preoccupation. "Hey," she murmured. 

"Hey," Kara replied after a beat. "Walk with me?" she asked. 

They strolled along the edge of the incoming waves in silence, and Lena found herself wondering about the turn of astronomical fortune that led her to this day, in this place, walking with this woman. While Kara remained disinclined to talk, Lena cast her face upward and enjoyed the sunlight, imagining for a moment that it could give her the same power it gave Kara. 

"Sometimes it's too much, you know?" Kara said, as if guessing Lena's thoughts. "Most of the time, the noise of the city is comforting. I _like_ that I can hear everyone just going about their day." She sighed. "But sometimes... it's all babies crying and couples arguing and I can't really breathe." 

Lena frowned in sympathy, and squeezed Kara's hand. "I'm sorry," she murmured. 

"It's okay," Kara replied, with a shake of her head. "I already feel better." She slowed to a stop, studied their joined hands for a moment, and took a deep, steadying breath. "_You_ make me feel better," she admitted. 

It was so strange, to feel a joy so sharp and intense that it actually hurt. Lena savored the sensation for a moment with her eyes closed. "Well, I'm really glad you came by," she said. "I wasn't having the best day, either." 

Kara immediately looked up in concern. "Why? What's wrong?" 

"It's nothing, really," Lena said. "I'm just... a little distracted, today." She could see Kara wasn't buying the deflection, and she sighed. "It's my birthday," she explained. "My first birthday since... everything, with my family. I don't quite know what to do with myself." 

"Oh, Lena," Kara said softly. 

"It's not like we ever really celebrated," Lena continued. "So I'm not quite sure why I'm so..." She clenched her jaw and looked away, then actively shook off the feeling. "Sorry." 

"No," Kara protested. "Don't be sorry. Birthdays are important. I wish I'd known." 

"It's all right," Lena replied, with a sad smile. "You make _me_ feel better," she said. "So thank you." 

"Wait, hang on," Kara said, thinking furiously. "I've got... It's not a real present or anything, but..." She backed away and held up her hands in a stalling gesture. "Can you stay here for a minute? I'll be right back." 

"Kara, what..." 

"Wait," Kara commanded gently, with a smile. "Please." She launched herself into the air and zipped away in a blur. 

Lena could only shrug and wrap her arms around herself with a shiver. With the sun dipping low in the sky and the breeze coming off the water, she was wishing she'd come on this little field trip a bit more prepared. 

Not two minutes later, Kara landed again at her side, with a hoodie slung over one arm, and her hands bent protectively around... something. She offered the hoodie with a chivalrous bow, and Lena returned the expected eye roll before grabbing it and tugging it over her head. 

Kara grinned at the sight of Lena Luthor in a rumpled sweatshirt and designer pencil skirt, standing barefoot in the sand. "Now, this isn't your 'official' present," she warned, as she held out her hands, then pulled one away to reveal a single, tiny plumeria blossom, freshly picked and profoundly fragile. 

Lena managed a confused smile as she took the flower. "It's lovely," she said, honestly. 

"It's the first bloom," Kara explained. "I started growing them in a planter off my loft, and... Well, I'm not very good at growing flowers, yet. But this little one made it." 

With her eyes screwed shut to hold back sudden tears, Lena dipped her head. 

"I was saving it for a special occasion," Kara said in a low voice. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to the crown of Lena's downcast head. "Happy birthday, Lena." 

Lena looked up then, with a watery smile, and flung herself at Kara in a clumsy, heartfelt hug. Kara caught her easily, laughed, and hugged her back as hard as she dared. 

When Lena finally pulled away, both women were grinning, and the melancholy of their respective days had completely evaporated. 

"You know, in Hawaii, women traditionally wear these flowers in their hair," Lena said with a conspiratorial look, as she held up the blossom between them. "If they wear them over their right ear, they're single. If they wear them over their left..." She tucked the flower into her hair neatly over her left ear. "They are very happily taken." 

Kara's expression turned serious as she studied the waning sunlight that burnished Lena's hair to a dark copper and made her eyes shine with brilliant intensity. She reached up to brush the backs of her fingers across Lena's cheek, then leaned in, meeting Lena halfway for a gentle, entirely-overdue kiss. 

They'd parted for only a moment to breathe before Lena surged forward, meeting Kara's surprised groan with hunger, and a resulting clash of lips and tongues that left them both trembling. 

Much later that evening, Lena strode out of her office - still barefoot and wearing a beat up hoodie - and asked Jess to make sure the building's cleaning services had vacuumed the sand out of her office carpet by morning.

* * *

A nondescript agent hovered just at the edge of Lillian's peripheral vision. She sighed and summoned him closer. 

"Report," she ordered. 

"We've been studying the predictive algorithm provided by our DEO source," the agent responded. He handed over a tablet with a data schematic. "We should be able to use it to stage a distraction while we breach the next vault." 

She pursed her lips and nodded. "Good work," she allowed. "I do so look forward to our little family reunions."


	3. Chapter 3

Well. This was all very new.

There was a woman in Lena's bed. Not just any woman, but an alien woman who tended to _sprawl_. Hard, and with enthusiasm.

Lena supposed she really shouldn't have been that surprised. Kara really didn't do things in half measures - whether that was writing triumphant articles vindicating certain CEOs, saving the world, or taking a nap. 

Napping was not an activity in which the Luthor family partook. Napping was self-indulgent, a waste of time. So Lena had actually surprised herself when - after the fourth time Kara had yawned during their Netflix date - she'd suggested they could snooze for a bit. The words had sort of escaped her mouth without warning, and definitely before she'd considered the full implications. 

"I'm really sorry," Kara said, squirming around so she could face Lena as she lay propped against Lena's lap on the couch. "It's been a long week. I promise I'm not bored with you or anything." 

"I wasn't taking it personally," Lena assured her. She eyed the rain pouring outside her penthouse window. "But it's a dark, dreary day that's perfect for an afternoon nap." She paused at her own assertion, wondering where on earth that had come from. "Right?" 

"Yeah?" Kara said, perking up just a bit. "You'll nap with me?" 

Lena's immediate impulse was to decline. Luthors didn't _do_ naps, after all. But the hopeful look on Kara's face and the promise of additional snuggling made her hesitate, which was enough for Kara to bounce off the couch, grab her hand, and drag her off to the bedroom. 

_This_ was a scenario Lena had been pondering for some time, though the fevered version in her imagination didn't include a fully-clothed Kara Danvers flopping face-first into a pillow and belatedly stripping off her glasses with a sleepy grumble. 

Kara half-turned to peer up at Lena. "Are you coming?" 

"Yeah," Lena said quietly, with a bemused smile and a shake of her head. She moved around to the small gap Kara had left on the far side of the bed and slipped under the covers. 

Kara promptly scooted under the covers next to her in a sort of physics-defying maneuver that also involved her stripping down to her tshirt and losing her socks. 

"Naps are the _best_," Kara declared, as she grabbed a fistful of blanket, tucked it under her chin, and curled against Lena's shoulder with her very very cutest face. "Especially naps with pretty girls." 

"Oh really?" Lena asked with a chuckle. She smoothed a palm against a stray wisp of Kara's hair. 

"Not that I've had a lot of experience with that since college," Kara added. "Missy... something." She was staring into space, trying to remember the girl's last name, and completely missing the comic climb of Lena's eyebrows. 

"Missy Something," Lena repeated, with an amused grin. 

Kara shook off the memory, and poked Lena in the side. "It wasn't like _that_. Missy was my roommate freshman year. She was really homesick most of the time, and she had the bottom bunk. So we'd curl up in her bed and watch movies on her laptop." 

Lena hummed and continued stroked Kara's hair, enjoying the immediate coziness as Kara slumped against her side. "This is way better," Kara mumbled into Lena's shirt, followed by another yawn. "And you're way prettier." 

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lena asked. "I haven't seen you this worn out before."

"Mm'fine," Kara said. "Just a bit tired." 

"Do Kryptonians on Earth get any kind of seasonal affective disorder?" Lena mused aloud. "When the days get shorter in winter?" 

"You _would_ ask nerdy science questions in bed," Kara grumbled with distinct affection. "And... maybe? Not sure. Could ask Clark." 

Lena already had her phone in her free hand, planning a delivery order for the parts she'd need for a proper sunlamp. She'd seen the DEO's designs, and was quite certain she could improve on them. Of course, she'd need to scavenge some parts from the oscillator project back in her lab... 

Kara shifted upward onto an elbow to scowl down at her. "You're bad at napping," she accused. 

"Very likely, yes," Lena admitted, as she set aside her phone. "Sorry." 

"If you want to get up and do something else..." 

Lena studied her with a thoughtful look, and traced Kara's brow with a fingertip. "There is nowhere else I'd rather be," she declared in a low voice. 

Kara's face split in a sweet smile. Coaxed by Lena's hand curling at the back of her head, Kara ducked in to claim a deep, slow kiss. 

As much as Lena wanted to pull Kara on top of her, to feel their bodies move together in languid friction, she could sense Kara's fatigue, the unusual sluggishness of her responses. Lena pulled away, then effectively chased away temptation by planting a cute, chaste kiss on the tip of Kara's nose. 

"Get some rest, Supergirl," Lena ordered gently. 

Kara, who somehow got away with pouting about the nap _she herself had instigated_, narrowed her eyes before agreeing and snuggling into the covers against Lena's side.

* * *

The novelty had worn off after Kara started snoring, and only because it was cuter than Lena could stand. She chuckled, slid out from under the covers as carefully as possible, and padded back out to her office to get her laptop. 

After the due diligence of an hour's work, Lena returned to her bedroom and stood at the foot of her bed, watching Kara and feeling just a tiny bit overwhelmed. 

She'd never had a "Missy Something." Much like naps on a rainy days, friendships were a luxury Luthors simply didn't have. Nor had she ever had a another person so comfortable in her presence. She was not exactly warm and fuzzy, even though her insides tended to turn to mush every time Kara smiled at her. In moments like this one, Kara's comfort and trust were ironically terrifying - gifts so fragile Lena was sure she'd break them. 

She perched on the side of the bed and bent to peer at Kara's face, which was a study in somnolent consternation. Lena couldn't help herself; she reached out and stroked a thumb across Kara's crinkled brow, starting when Kara shuddered awake. 

Kara opened one eye to peer around. "Was there something on my face just now?" 

"No, but your forehead was scrunched," Lena said, drawing her own eyebrows together in an approximation that Kara would have found adorable had she been more conscious. "You must have been having Very Serious dreams." 

"Mm," Kara agreed. "We were out of donuts." 

"Very serious indeed," Lena concluded with a smile. She stroked her thumb gently across Kara's still-furrowed brow, and was rewarded by Kara's entire body flopping in nearly-boneless reaction. 

"Urf. That's not fair," Kara mumbled.

Lena's smile softened, as she added gentle scritch across Kara's scalp.

"Hey, I'm not a _cat_," Kara complained into her pillow, nearly incoherent. "You can't just pet me back to sleep." 

"She said, as she fell asleep while being petted," Lena observed.

Kara managed another half-lidded scowl at her before she relaxed against the covers again.

Quiet settled over the room, punctuated by the rain and a distant rumble of thunder.

"You gonna sit there and stare at me or get back in here and snuggle?" Kara mumbled.

Lena blushed, but took that as the invitation it was and climbed under the covers once more, settling in to curl on her side facing Kara. Kara mirrored her and smiled sleepily when Lena reached out to tug fingertips through her hair. 

"What are you thinking about?" Kara asked. She kept her eyes closed, as if sensing the heaviness of Lena's thoughts and giving her space to sort through them. 

"You're wonderful," Lena whispered.

At that, Kara did open her eyes. "Well, you _deserve_ wonderful. I'm just trying to keep up."

And there it was again, that sweet stab of joy that Lena associated with the clear blue of Kara's eyes. She held herself very still, trying to protect the moment from everything that threatened them both. 

Kara turned her head and pressed her lips to Lena's palm. "Come here," she said, as she shifted closer. She reached out, pleasantly surprised when Lena scooted willingly into her embrace. Eventually they were tangled together in a proper cocoon of blankets, Kara propped against the pillows and Lena curled mostly on top of her. 

Lena tucked her face against Kara's neck the way she did when they were flying. Kara, in turn, held her with her usual gentle strength, unsure what had precipitated the melancholy shift in mood, but more than willing to ride it out in Lena's company. 

"I've got you," Kara murmured. She felt Lena shudder against her, and said it over and over until well after the rain had stopped.

* * *

A few nights later found Kara restlessly wandering the halls of the DEO. Not even Winn and Lena's excited nerd prattle could keep her engaged. 

She was _itchy_. 

"Supergirl," Alex called across the command center. "Doing okay over there?" 

Kara shrugged. "Maybe a sparring session?" 

Before Alex could reply, an alert sounded at Winn's station, and the team was immediately all business. J'onn emerged from his office and requested a report. 

"Security alarms just went off at a warehouse we'd designated as a 'high value target' for Cadmus," Winn responded. He spun and pushed his chair to another console, where he pulled up security cam footage with a flurry of commands. 

Lena found herself holding her breath. While she'd witnessed the DEO team at work in the wild, and even provoked her own confrontations with Cadmus, this was the first time she'd been present for a DEO scramble, and the resulting adrenaline surge was both exhilarating and terrifying. She couldn't help but be grateful for Kara's solid presence nearby, even if Kara _looked_ as anxious as Lena felt. 

"Warehouse for what?" Alex asked.

"No idea," Winn admitted. "It's an old Luthor Corp storage facility out in the desert."

Lena was very aware of the collective eyes of the DEO suddenly watching her as she stepped up to Winn's side and peered over his shoulder. "Can you find any recent shipping manifests?" she asked. 

"On it," Winn replied. He leaned in over his keyboard, typing furiously as he sifted through mountains of quasi-legal data. While he worked, the security feed on the monitor showed a paramilitary strike force storming in to the warehouse, then the feed died in an explosion of static. 

Kara clenched her fists, while Alex called for a counterstrike team to surround the location. They both knew the Cadmus operatives would be in and out before any backup could arrive.

"Thermal shielding components," Lena murmured, mentally cataloging the individual manifests as Winn scrolled through them. "Satellite payload systems." Her brow drew together in a worried frown. "Project Dusk," she concluded.

"The global warming initiative?" Alex asked. 

Winn snapped his fingers. "Right! The satellites Luthor Corp was going set up in a net to shield the Earth from solar radiation." 

Lena turned and gave Kara a grim look. "With the 'unintended' side effect of rendering Kryptonian powers inert." 

"Damn," Winn said. "Cadmus _really_ doesn't like Supers, do they?"

J'onn stepped in. "I have to agree with Mr. Schott. This sounds personal."

"It's always personal with Cadmus," Kara argued. "I'm going anyway."

Alex looked ready to protest, but she swallowed the objection and nodded to J'onn before heading off to the armory.

Lena held Kara's gaze in a moment that stretched all out of proportion to the actual danger presented. If Cyborg Superman wasn't involved, this operation was a mere distraction, an exercise of Cadmus tossing itself at the DEO's defenses to see how it would respond. Lena opened her mouth to argue the foolishness of risking Supergirl on such a trivial operation, but shut it again when she realized - _this was what Kara did_. This is what she and her friends, her forged family, risked every day. Sometimes the threat was a few low-level thugs tossing a warehouse. Sometimes it was aliens with powers stronger than Kara's. Sometimes it was crazy brilliant xenophobic humans hell-bent on reclaiming Earth as their own. 

She took a breath and tried to compose herself, acutely mindful of the worried look Kara was aiming her way. "Be careful," Lena said quietly, knowing Kara would hear her over the activity around them.

It was the right thing to say; Kara relaxed, gave her a confident grin, then headed out to the balcony and launched herself into the night sky with determined purpose. 

Lena twisted her fingers together, barely registering the swift cadence of orders issued around her and the agents filing out to their duty stations. This might be everyday operation at the DEO, but it was very much new to Lena herself. This was the part of superhero-ing that no one got to see, and Lena had to find a way to help. 

"There are half a dozen other warehouses in the immediate area, and they'll all have external cameras," she said to Winn. "I can get access to those feeds." 

Winn nodded eagerly, pointed her to a spare workstation, then craned his neck to watch her work. "We should totally have a hackathon someday," he muttered, impressed, as the first feed sputtered to life on her screen. 

Lena smirked, and kept working. Before long she had three additional streams all pointed at the warehouse. The cameras were too far from the source for great detail, but at least they had eyes on the place. 

"Supergirl," Winn said into the comms. "It looks pretty quiet out there..." 

"Don't say it," Kara warned, muffled by the wind as she flew. 

"Almost _too_ quiet," Winn concluded the cliché with a grin. "Seriously, though. This has 'trap' all over it." 

"Counterstrike team is ten minutes out," Alex announced, from the DEO convoy. 

"All right," Kara said. "I'm going in." 

Lena grit her teeth when Kara's form dropped into view on the illicit camera feeds, waiting to see what Cadmus... what _her mother_ had in mind to torment her today.

* * *

It never really occurred to Kara to be afraid, even when she charged headlong into a fight. Being invulnerable lent her a certain casual disregard for the usual bullets, explosions, and sharp objects humans typically used to hurt each other. 

Cadmus was not a bunch of typical humans, however, and she definitely had a shiver of trepidation as she tore open the warehouse door to face whatever was inside. 

The warehouse was vast, startlingly well-lit, and vacant save for a single shipping crate in the center of the space. Kara scowled, and could feel a prickling sensation along her skin. 

"They're gone," she reported. 

"Negative, Supergirl," Winn said in her ear. "We haven't seen anyone leave." 

"Damn," she muttered. She focused her vision toward the floor, and immediately encountered interference. "The floor's lined with lead," she said for the benefit of comms. "They probably grabbed whatever was here and escaped through a tunnel." 

"Wrap it up and return to base," Winn advised. "The counterstrike team will take that place apart, and we'll find out whatever they were up to." 

"There's one crate left," Kara replied, as she strode toward it.

"Uh, that's a little conspicuous, right?" Winn asked in alarm. "Maybe stay away from it?"

"Might be dangerous," Kara replied. And by that, she meant she _knew_ it was dangerous, to her in particular. A very distinct sickly feeling washed over her as she drew closer. 

"All the more reason to _stay away from it_," Winn insisted, growing shrill. "Kara, don't be stupid." 

She almost laughed, because _Rao_, this was a stupid thing to do. Nevertheless, she ripped open the crate, then nearly doubled over in queasy weakness.

It was a note, lit by the eerie green radiation from a single shard of synthetic kryptonite:

**ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN**

Kara tossed the lid of the crate halfway across the warehouse in sheer frustration and stalked out.

* * *

Hours later, Lena was poking uselessly at a tablet showing updates from the post-op team's investigation. Most of her attention was focused on Kara pacing in small laps alone on catwalk overhead. 

DEO Medical had declared Supergirl fine and fit for duty. The counterstrike team had swept in, secured the scene, and started taking it apart for further scrutiny. The job was done, the battle was lost, and the war raged on. 

And Lena had absolutely _no_ idea how to approach her girlfriend about it.

Alex, fresh from debrief, sidled up to Lena, almost casually-close. "Hi," she said.

Lena started, and looked back at her. "Um. Hello?" she answered. 

"She likes it when people talk her out of brooding," Alex murmured, low enough to be intended for Lena's ears only. 

"Oh. How do I do that?" Lena asked, urgent but equally quiet. 

Alex shrugged. "I usually offer to get her ice cream," she said. 

"_Food_ doesn't actually fix anything," Lena hissed back, annoyed.

"No," Alex agreed, with a patient look. "But it's like... emotional shorthand, for us. To remind her she's not fighting alone."

The explanation made a fair amount of sense, even though it left one glaring shortfall. "We don't _have_ anything like that," Lena insisted, nearing panic.

Alex pinched her nose in frustration. "Just go talk to her," she ordered. "She's waiting for you." She felt only she smallest pang saying that, knowing it to be true. Kara _wasn't_ waiting for her sister, this time. 

Lena immediately straightened and stepped toward the ramp up to the catwalk, hoping like hell she'd think of something to say before she got there. Behind her, Alex smiled and cast a gaze over her shoulder, where she knew she'd see J'onn watching. He smiled back, and nodded his approval.

* * *

"You know, ice cream _does_ actually solve most of the world's problems," Kara said, cocking her head toward Lena's approach. 

"Ah, of course you heard that," Lena replied with a sigh. "And - point taken." She stepped closer and rubbed her hands together. "Are you okay?" 

Kara shrugged and nodded, but didn't unfold her arms, and showed no signs of shaking off what looked to be an impressively sulky pout. 

This wasn't a side of Kara she'd seen before, so Lena decided to focus on herself for a moment. "You know, I don't think I've ever felt quite as useless as I did last night," she said, with a speculative lift of her eyebrows. 

"You helped Winn," Kara said immediately. 

"Barely," Lena scoffed. "And then hearing him try to talk you out of opening that crate, knowing what they might have left behind..." She swallowed, hard. "Knowing I couldn't stop you... Couldn't stop _them_..." 

At that, Kara dipped her head. "I just had to know. And I know that was a dumb risk," she admitted. "I'm sorry." 

"Why do you let her bait you like that?" Lena demanded. The pronoun left no ambiguity between them. They both knew she was talking about Lillian Luthor. 

"I could ask you the same thing," Kara said, then she shrugged. "It's always been personal with Cadmus." 

"Now it's even _more_ personal," Lena murmured. "And you saw it coming. You were agitated all day." 

Kara was shaking her head before Lena finished the thought. "That wasn't any kind of superpower, that was just... pattern recognition. Cadmus times their attacks to be obtrusive and distinct. They don't want to get buried in the bustle of National City's usual problems. They want me to notice." 

"So when you realized it had been a while since we'd heard from them..." Lena trailed off. 

"I knew we were due," Kara concluded. 

Lena gave her a grim look. "Well, Mother always did have a flair for the dramatic," she said dryly, relieved when Kara managed to crack a smile. The entire command deck shifted minutely as Supergirl relaxed, which Lena counted as a solid victory. She stepped closer, and leaned against the catwalk rail. "You know, I've seen you do some amazing things, fight some terrifying people. I thought I was prepared to be here, to watch you leap into danger like you do." 

She was aware of Kara's gaze against her profile, but Lena kept her eyes on the huge windows above the balcony, and the skyline beyond. "I wasn't prepared," she admitted in a flat voice. "But I am _so_ proud to be here with you, to help in any way I can." 

When she finally dared to look at Kara's face, the affectionate expression beaming back at her nearly took her breath away. 

"You're kind of wonderful, Lena Luthor," Kara said, with a tiny grin. 

In a flash, Lena understood what Alex had meant - _emotional shorthand_. So much sentiment wrapped up in a word, wrapped up in tangled sheets, held in gentle eyes and a soft embrace on a rainy day. 

_You're wonderful._  
_You're strong._  
_You make me feel safe._  
_You're not fighting alone._

Lena looked down and blushed, but couldn't stop a smile of her own. "Thank you," she said quietly. 

"Always," Kara vowed. 

Lena looked out at the skyline again, noticing the first rays of dawn light peeking behind National City's buildings. "It's been a long night." 

"Yeah. Fortunately I have the day off." Kara eyeballed Lena with a calculated gaze. "Know anybody who would be up for Netflix and a nap?" 

Lena chuckled. "Definitely. Just... when you tell Alex that's what you're doing? Make sure she knows there is actual napping involved." 

"Naps with pretty girls are the _best_," Kara asserted with devastating innocence, as she sauntered down the catwalk. "Even she knows that." 

Lena put her face in her hands. "I'm sure she does."


	4. Chapter 4

On an otherwise nondescript Tuesday, they stood together just after sunset on the balcony of Lena's office, sharing a pile of carryout that Kara had delivered fresh from... somewhere.

"Any news from the investigation?" Lena asked, around a tasty bite of some sort of fusion taco. Kara shook her head while she inhaled her own dinner.

"Nothing Alex is willing to tell me, yet."

"But you think they've found _something_," Lena said with a frown.

"Oh, I know they have. They're really good at their jobs."

Lena finished off her meal and scrubbed her fingers primly with a crumpled paper napkin. "You don't want to be involved?"

Kara shrugged, in a game attempt to look not at all frustrated. "Alex has a 'process.' It's actually gotten a lot more rigid since she's been with Maggie. They do the cop thing, then when they have 'actionable information,' I get to do the Super thing."

That all made sense, even allowing for the discomfort of knowing Cadmus was out there, working toward purposes undiscovered.

"I kinda hate it," Kara confessed, reading Lena's dubious expression. "I want to just swoop in and help, but apparently there's law and procedure and probable cause and stuff."

"Swooping is bad," Lena murmured, adding that fact to her running internal catalogue of Super Rules and Regulations.

Kara rolled her eyes. "Not inherently, but the whole 'process' actually works when I stay out of the way and _let_ it. Also it makes Maggie way less pissy at the DEO's jurisdictional authority."

They were quiet for a moment while they both considered the situation.

"That is absurdly short-sighted," Lena declared, finally.

"Ugh. Right?!" Kara exclaimed, tossing her hand out in an exasperated gesture. "This is why you're amazing. You _get_ me."

Lena smiled in that rare, scrunchy way that Kara found ridiculously charming. "So you wouldn't object if I hacked the NCPD and the DEO to check in on the investigation?" she asked.

"I mean, if you _happened_ to learn something useful, and you _happened_ to share it with your girlfriend the superhero..." Kara said in a low voice, as she sidled a little closer.

"I'm sure she'd be _very_ grateful," Lena concluded in a murmur, as she tilted in close enough to nearly bump against Kara's nose. "But the lab techs are still running trace particle analysis. Not a lot of information yet."

Kara wavered in a pleasant daze, enjoying the sensory overload of Lena being so close, of her breath across her cheek, of the delicate scent of her perfume... Wait. "You already hacked them," she said in realization.

Lena closed the distance between them and claimed a quick kiss. "See? This is why you're amazing. You _get_ me," she whispered, with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Lena," Kara sighed in a warning.

"Please. Like I'd sit around and wait for someone _else_ to take down Cadmus," Lena replied. "Besides, doesn't J'onn read minds? I wasn't exactly subtle about my intentions."

"Which are?" Kara asked.

Lena tilted her head, studying Kara seriously. "To use every resource I have to protect you, and by extension, every innocent person on Earth."

"Oh," Kara exhaled, a little stunned at the blunt, honest declaration.

"Oh," Lena echoed, and lifted an eyebrow with a mischievous look. She shifted closer, and lifted her hands to rest at Kara's waist.

Every once in a while, Lena let herself think about the machinations of a universe that had put Kara Zor-El within her reach, and the impossibly perfect fit of her hand against the curve of Kara's hip. She let her thumbs slide across the fabric of the Super suit, and enjoyed the subtle flaring of Kara's nostrils in response.

"Thank you for dinner," Lena murmured.

Kara lifted a hand to brush her fingertips across Lena's cheek. "Least I could do, since you've been busy saving the world," she replied.

"We make a good team," Lena agreed, as she leaned into Kara's touch. Kara couldn't restrain a tiny noise of wonder, and _had_ to kiss her.

* * *

Maggie kicked at a bit of concrete that had loosened from the warehouse floor. "So, I know there are rules and all," she muttered, then winced when Alex threw a wry look her way. "_And_ I know they're mostly my fault."

"Proper jurisprudence," Alex offered, politely.

"Yeah, sure. But we don't have shit for leads right now, Danvers," Maggie concluded with a huff. "Maybe Supergirl _should_ get a crack at the case."

They had canvassed the warehouse, and the surrounding warehouses, and interviewed every delivery driver that had worked within a mile's radius, and come away with absolutely no insight as to what interest Cadmus would have had in the area.

"Lab results take time," Alex said, shrugging. "Even when the DEO helps."

It was the perfectly reasonable response Maggie didn't want to hear. She sighed and watched the crime scene techs pack away their equipment. "So we find out they're building some new alien superweapon, and that the world is doomed, again. Then what?"

Alex's brow creased in a thoughtful scowl. "Then we stop them, again," she said simply, aware that Maggie's tone hinted at some underlying strain. "Why? What's going on in there?" she asked, tapping Maggie on the forehead.

Maggie heaved another frustrated sigh. "I dunno, just existential cop angst," she admitted. "Like nothing matters and we're all gonna die, so why bother?"  
"Whoa," Alex exhaled. "Okay. There's a lot happening with all that."

"Ah hell, forget I said anything," Maggie grumbled. "Just focus on the job, right?" She folded her arms in her usual stalwart, immovable stance, and Alex had little trouble imagining a teenaged Maggie learning to defy the world in exactly that pose.

Not for the first time, Alex found herself wishing they’d met earlier.

She sifted through her repertoire of comforting platitudes, and was about to struggle through literally _anything_ to ease the silence between them, when Maggie's phone buzzed.

Maggie showed Alex the caller ID before lifting the phone to her ear and stepping away for a modicum of privacy. _NCPD Lab_.

Alex pursed her lips to wait out the call, then her own phone buzzed in her pocket. She smiled reflexively as she answered. "Kara," she greeted.

"Hey Alex. Any news?" Kara replied.

Alex took a moment to cock her head and listen to Maggie's side of the conversation with the lab techs. "Sounds like we've got some results from the lab," she relayed to her sister. "We'll meet up at the DEO in an hour."

"I'll bring Lena," Kara said.

"Good idea," Alex replied, just as she heard Maggie utter the words "L-Corp" on the other line.

Both women hung up, and Maggie strolled back over to Alex's side. "So your sister calls within seconds of the lab results being available?" Maggie said with a knowing look.

"Quite a coincidence," Alex replied, deadpan.  
"Mmhmm," Maggie drawled. She leaned closer and fished the keys to the unmarked car out of Alex's pocket. "Coincidentally, _I'm_ driving."

"Hey," Alex called, reaching out to Maggie as she turned away. "About what you said before? Why we bother doing what we do?"

Maggie waved her off. "Forget it, Danvers. Momentary emo lapse. I'm over it."

"I bother because of _you_," Alex said. "Because you, and Kara, and my parents, and everyone else I love deserves for the world to be better than it is."

Maggie's face reflected a dozen different emotions as she processed that declaration. "Alex..."

Alex shrugged. "Just saying," she concluded gently, then plucked the keys back out of Maggie's suddenly nerveless fingers. "Let's roll, Detective."

* * *

"What do we have?" J'onn asked, as he strode into the DEO command center.

Winn skittered in after him, tapping madly at his favorite tablet. "The lab results indicate elements that weren’t consistent with components from Project Dusk," he reported. "_Non-terrestrial_ elements, which is why they took so long to analyze." With one final swipe, he directed the results to the central holographic display.

While Alex, Kara, and Lena stepped closer to get a better look, Maggie leaned away, instead studying the other women and their reactions.

"Is that the same isotope Cadmus needed to weaponize the Medusa virus?" Kara asked.

"No," Alex and Lena said at the same time, before exchanging a glance.

"It's also not documented in L-Corp's inventory," Lena added. "Which means it was one of Lex’s personal stockpiles, kept off the books." 

Maggie studied Lena for a long moment, easily reading the complicated mix of shame and curiosity evident in her posture.

"What would it be used for?" J'onn asked.

Lena shrugged. “Anything from weapons manufacturing to medical devices," she said.

"Knowing Cadmus, it's probably more on the 'weapons' part of the spectrum," Winn muttered.

J'onn scowled, and looked around the room. "So do we know literally anything new at all?"

They all shifted uncomfortably, save for Lena, who was peering at the display with an intense look. "What else have you been hiding from me?" she whispered.

At that, Maggie finally stepped forward. "Is it possible we're reading too much into this... stuff?" she asked, with a gesture toward the holographic chemical representation. "Maybe the operation was just, like, reacquisition of resources."

"Or a distraction," Winn offered. "Keep the DEO and Supergirl engaged with something trivial so we don't notice what they're really up to."

"They left _kryptonite_, and a message for _me_," Kara pointed out. "They knew we'd notice."

"And we _noticed_ because we have an algorithm that said the warehouse was a 'high value target,'" Alex said, with a pointed look directed at Lena.

If Lena heard the veiled accusation, she didn't bother reacting. She cocked her head thoughtfully, and extended a hand toward Winn, who only blinked in response. "The algorithm is just a computer model - an educated guess," she said absently.

She flicked her fingers impatiently in Winn's general direction, and he could only shrug in confusion. Kara sighed, plucked the tablet from his grip and placed it in Lena's hand.

"We're _guessing_ based on patterns extrapolated from Cadmus' previous behavior, and presumed Luthor Corp assets," Lena continued. She looked down at the tablet and started inputting equations from memory. "Every new data point - even this encounter - will allow it to calculate with greater accuracy."

Three more taps, then a swipe, and the holographic display refreshed.

"In fact," Lena concluded, "They probably weren't taking the isotope for their own purposes. They were keeping it from _me_."

Winn's jaw hung open. "Is that..."

"We've _never_ been able to absorb the radiation from kryptonite that efficiently," Alex said, as she studied the diagrams and numbers on the display.

"And now Cadmus has made sure we never will," Lena said, bitterly. She turned to Kara to explain. "At the volume suggested by the traces we've detected, they have enough of this isotope to construct a mesh sufficient to render you completely impervious to the effects of kryptonite. And I _didn't know it existed_." Her jaw clenched with a familiar, slow-burning rage.

"This isn't your fault," Kara said in a quiet voice. She stepped closer and rested a gentle hand on Lena's shoulder.

Lena could only shake her head, look away, and wonder if the threatening note left behind was meant for _her_.

**ENJOY IT WHILE YOU CAN**

"I am tired of being perpetually one step behind these people," J'onn declared. "How do we get the upper hand?"

Maggie fidgeted a little. "So, I still think maybe you're misreading their intentions," she offered, delicately. "You keep presuming they're after 'aliens' as some generic collective, but really, aliens are only a means to an end."

"They want revenge for Lex," Lena breathed in agreement. "They _want_ Superman."

"Which means _I'm_ a means to an end," Kara said with a snort. "Fun. But, I have an idea. If we're going to take the battle to Cadmus, we need to know everything they could have possibly learned about Kryptonians." She turned a tiny smile to Lena. "Wanna go on a trip?"

* * *

The bitter cold stole her breath as they landed in some remote location far, far north. Lena was glad she'd overheard James complaining about his own journeys to the Fortress of Solitude, since it meant she'd been able to prepare with a few extra layers. She followed Kara into the chamber, remaining quiet in deference to Kara's obvious somber mood.

"I haven't been here since Hank Henshaw stole the data on the Medusa virus," Kara said absently. "They used my blood to gain access."

Lena nodded, and didn't bother mentioning that she'd scrutinized the DEO's files on the Medusa event as soon as her clearance had permitted. "Just like they used _my_ blood to get access to Lex's vaults," she said. "Mother would be scandalized to learn that she's become predictable," she added dryly. She took a few cautious steps across the cavern, and ran her fingertips along a nearby pillar of ice. "What happened here?" she asked, tilting her head at what looked like a metallic torso that poked out of the frost on the floor.

"His name is Kelex," Kara explained. "He's the AI who came here with Clark. Cadmus reprogrammed him to treat me as an intruder, so I had to fry him."

Lena bent to inspect the damaged AI shell, profound curiosity plain across her face.

"You wanna try to fix him?" Kara asked idly. "We could take him back to the DEO. Winn would love to work on a project with you."

"Sounds like fun," Lena said. With effort she set aside the tantalizing glimpse into advanced alien technology, and pushed herself back upright. "But I don't think you brought me here to poke at a broken robot."

Kara hung her head and sighed. "No," she said in agreement. With slow, heavy movements, she walked over to the main console and swept her hand over it, refreshing its previous state.

A hologram of a kind-looking man materialized before them. "Hello, Kara," it said, with a warmly artificial smile.

"Hey, Dad," Kara replied in a tiny voice. She held out a hand to gesture toward her companion. "This is Lena," she said.

The hologram appeared to direct its attention toward Lena. "Hello," it said politely.

Lena's eyes were wide, and her mouth hung open in no small amount of shock. "Kara, what..." She trailed off, unsure what she'd even meant to ask.

"Can you add her as an authorized user?" Kara asked. "Full access."

"Of course," the hologram answered. A tiny probe lifted out of the console and flashed a red light in Lena's direction. "Biometric data added to user list."

"Kara," Lena barked, her voice sharp in concern. "What _is_ this?"

Kara looked up at her then, and seemed to shake off her fugue. "This is... Krypton," she replied. "All that's left, along with the shard that's at the DEO. It's all they could save and send with me and Kal... Clark." She shrugged a bit and folded her arms, looking uncharacteristically small and vulnerable, especially in her bold Supergirl suit.

Lena swept her hand back over the console, deactivating the system once more. She stepped close and took hold of Kara's arms, ducking her head to get in front of Kara's downcast gaze. "Hey," she murmured, then waited.

Kara took a shaky breath, and shrugged a bit. "I guess I don't know how to talk about this."

"You don't _have_ to," Lena insisted. “Not right now. We'll find some other way to fight Cadmus. Any other way."

Kara smiled sadly. "Right," she said, then straightened and squared her shoulders. "I've been wanting to bring you here, you know? Before we ever..." She blushed and scratched at her nose. "Before we were a 'we.' I kept thinking how much you'd like this place, and how much I'd like to show you what's left of my world."

"I'm honored," Lena said quietly. "By _everything_ you share with me." She shifted, and deliberately set aside the tantalizing opportunity to get her hands on alien tech. "But I'm not actually interested in facts and figures right now," she said softly. "Just you."

With a sigh, Kara kept her eyes fixed on a distant point beyond the ceiling.

Lena waited, studying Kara's profile and aching for the sadness in her expression.

"It's complicated," Kara said finally. She worked her jaw in frustration. "I keep finding out... My father _created_ the Medusa virus. My own father wanted to arbitrarily kill aliens."

"He wanted to protect his world," Lena interjected softly.

Kara exhaled a sad laugh, and scrubbed her hand across her eyes. "Right, from the 'great alien menace,'" she said dryly. "Except now _I'm_ the menace." She swiped her hand above the AI console, looked at the blandly lifeless image of her father for a painful moment, then deactivated the hologram again.

There was no way to respond to that. Lena shifted, feeling Kara's suffering as a jagged edge against her own heart.

Kara turned anguished eyes back at her. "When I was a kid, I _worshipped_ my family, and now..."

"You're finding out they weren't necessarily who you thought they were," Lena murmured, in a tone laden with understanding.

"It's like I _keep_ losing them," Kara said in agreement. "The family I 'knew' keeps dying, over and over." She breathed deeply, trying to vent some of the frustration and grief that still burned somewhere deep inside.

Lena squeezed Kara's hand, feeling wildly out of her emotional depth, but hoping to provide some kind of reassurance.

"My mother had a twin sister," Kara said in a strained voice. “And she came here, on Fort Rozz. It was wonderful to see her again, but she was so... _damaged_. So angry. There was no way for her to be okay, here." With that last tragic recollection, Kara took a deep breath, and deliberately shook off the heavy burden of crushing loss. "You know, if the truth about the House of El was splashed across international news, humans would be even less inclined to trust aliens," she said with an ironic, humorless chuckle. "And with good reason." She tilted her chin to give Lena a look, making a valiant attempt at a smile. "I guess I'm just a woman trying to make a name for herself outside of her family," she concluded. 

She'd meant it to be a lighthearted reference to the day they'd first met, but Lena shook her head and looked back at her with a very serious expression.

"You are _not_ responsible for the actions of your family," Lena declared quietly. "But Kara - even if you were? You make people better than they are."

Kara's brow scrunched in an adorably dubious way, but she didn't argue.

"The people who love you can't help but try to be the person you believe them to be," Lena continued, choosing her words with care. "I think... if your parents could see you now? They'd be how you remember them to be. They would have found a way to be better, for you. Your aunt would have been better, if she’d had the chance. _For you_."

She could see the desperate, painful need to believe etched across Kara's face.

"Your friends have invented ways to become _superheroes_ for you. Do you think your parents would have done anything less?"

"But that isn’t about _me_," Kara protested. "They - _you_ \- do the right thing... Because you help people when you can."

"Because we’ve taken after the world’s most selfless example of heroism,” Lena countered with a gentle look. When Kara looked like she wanted to object further, Lena lifted a hand to press gently against her cheek. “Trust me, Supergirl. You change the world just by walking through it." She canted her head with a teasing squint, hoping some levity would actually help. "Or, you know. Flying, on a bus."

Kara snorted a tiny laugh, and maybe looked just a little less lost. She pressed her forehead to Lena's, and took a moment to regain her equilibrium. "Thank you," she whispered. “Family is so _hard_, you know?"

Lena could only manage the tiniest of smiles. "Yeah, I know," she replied.

After a long moment, Kara pulled away with a knowing look. "Want to nerd out with the alien tech for a bit?"

"I really, really do," Lena admitted, breathless and eager to set aside their respective emotional burdens for a moment. "Show me around?"


	5. Chapter 5

Kara reactivated the holograph and let it narrate a brief explanation of the historical and scientific records contained in the Fortress' archive, and offered Lena some mild commentary along the way.

Once the tour was complete, Kara pulled up a file system display and started scrolling through various directories. "We relied on representational interfaces," she began, gesturing at the image of her father waiting patiently for instructions. "So the backend data storage is really just an enormous database. It's incredibly efficient for sheer data density, but not exactly optimized for direct queries." 

Lena stared in deep concentration, then pointed at repeated clusters of information. "These patterns?" she asked.

"Dates," Kara explained. "In this case, file creation dates." She sighed. "These were all written a few weeks before they sent me away," she murmured, then shook herself a bit. "The crystalline storage structure can rearrange itself to show affinities between different kinds of information."

Lena's mind was alight with possibilities, and she studied Kara's profile for a moment. "Primitive human technology probably drives you crazy, doesn't it?"

"I mean, I am _very_ well educated in the science and technology of a dead world," Kara replied, with a sardonic look. "But knowing a bunch of abstract 'stuff' doesn't mean I necessarily know how to apply it in a completely different context."

Lena bumped against her with a friendly nudge. "Bet we could team up on that," she said quietly.

Kara turned and flashed her a smile. "I'd like that," she said. "Think you can build an interface to extract some data?"

"With your help," Lena said. She fished her tablet out of the bag she'd brought along, and leaned in eagerly while Kara opened an access panel and started explaining data transport protocols.

An hour later, a whoosh of frigid air from the cavern's entrance announced Superman's arrival before he himself did.

"Who the hell is in the computer?!" he demanded, strutting in to the Fortress with his cape swishing dramatically behind him.

"Just us," Kara announced with a smile. She floated across the console room and gave him a hug. "Good to see you, Kal."

He relaxed and hugged her back, then stiffened again when he spotted Lena working on her tablet. 

"You remember Lena, right?" Kara asked. She fidgeted a bit, trying to sound casual.

Lena didn't even look up from the console, but threw him a brief wave. "Hello, Clark," she called.

His eyes bulged comically, and he rounded on Kara. "What the hell..."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You were best friends with her brother, doofus. You think she somehow _missed_ that? Besides, your disguise is worse than mine."

"Are you _insane_?" he hissed. "Why is she here?"

"Because Cadmus was here, and we need to stop them."

"You can't possibly trust her."

She gave him a look. "Watch me." She turned and punched him in the shoulder. "And don't be so rude."

"Kara," he breathed, faint with disbelief. He put a firm hand to her arm to tug her away to a discreet distance. "Listen. I've been down this road before. People will get _hurt_. You don't know what they're capable of."

"Oh, stop it," Kara snapped. "_One_ human hurt you. And that _sucks_, Kal. It does. But every other human doesn't have to carry the blame for that."

"Why take the risk at all? She's a..."

"A what? A human? A _Luthor_? A woman who's smarter and more capable than her brother ever was, and yet somehow _not_ a megalomaniacal narcissist bent on world domination? So therefore you think I'm missing the giant, flaming red flags _you_ didn't catch?"

He swallowed, taken aback by the venom in her voice. "I just want you to be safe," he asserted, in one last ditch attempt to plead his case.

"No, you want to be _right_," Kara argued. "And you're just not." She stepped closer, and dropped her voice to a low, dangerous register. "You don't know her," she said. "You don't know how amazing she is despite everything life has done to her."

He flicked a look over at Lena, who returned his gaze evenly, not even pretending to ignore the argument in progress. "I suppose I don't," he admitted, loud enough to address them both. "I'm sorry."

Kara exhaled a frustrated noise and turned away. "Good."

"But I still don't understand what you're looking for," he concluded.

Kara directed an expectant look at Lena. 

"We're looking for file access logs to see what Cadmus copied while they were here," Lena said.

"File access logs?" Clark asked, in some disbelief. "This system supports that?"

"Lena's already built an interpreter between the core storage and her own L-Corp interface," Kara explained. "She's so smart," she concluded with a dreamy smile.

The entire scene reminded Lena of that first time the Supers showed up in her office. Even then, Clark was snarky, on the offensive. Even then, Kara was cautious but drawn to Lena's side, sticking up for herself and ultimately for Lena, too. She noticed Clark studying her, and lifted her chin in a challenge.

He frowned, but had the good grace to avert his eyes. He, too, remembered that day in Lena's office. He'd been struck by the familiarity of Lena's story, and he couldn't help but notice Lena Luthor's _pull_, the brilliant, burdened mind that made Lex look dull by comparison.

He chanced a look between the two women, and saw the undeniable spark. He must have made a noise, because Kara immediately swung narrowed eyes over at him.

All at once, Kara decided she had no patience for his continued, obvious doubt. "Go _home_, Kal-El. I'll call you when we know more about Cadmus' plans, okay?"

He clenched his jaw, then let his posture droop in defeat. As much as his own history with Lex still bruised, he couldn't actually summon a credible reason to distrust Lena at Kara's expense. "Okay," he agreed, and turned to walk with Kara back to the cavern's entrance. "You know, I've never brought Lois here," he murmured.

"Well, maybe you should," Kara replied. She punched him in the shoulder again, for good measure, then they both chuckled when she pulled him into a hug. "Thanks for giving Lena a chance," she whispered in his ear.

"Only for you," he declared. He pulled away and gave her a grin, then gave Lena a polite nod before wandering out and flying away.

Kara sighed, and shuffled back across the cavern. "'Family is hard,' exhibit A," she said, holding out a hand to indicate her departed cousin.

Lena tried to smile in response, and barely managed a grimace instead. "I'm sorry about that."

"I'm not," Kara said firmly. "That conversation was overdue." She stepped closer, shaking tension out of her arms with a loud, frustrated noise. "What I said about Lex..."

Lena shook her head and looked away. "Wasn't untrue," she said quietly.

"It wasn't particularly kind, either," Kara said. "I'm sorry."

"If he knew you thought I was smarter than he is, he'd have a stroke," Lena replied, with a wan smile.

Kara could feel a gulf widening between them, so she reached out with one hand, relieved when Lena immediately grabbed hold and tangled their fingers together. 

For a moment they just breathed together, and then Kara noticed the thick plumes of frosted breath that meant Lena was likely getting very cold. "Have you found anything?" she asked.

Gratefully accepting the change in topic, Lena held out her tablet for Kara's inspection. "I have. Access records indicate Cadmus was specifically targeting files regarding Kryptonian biology. But there's something else." She pointed to a very recent change in the storage system.

Kara scowled. "They left a file behind?"

Lena nodded. It was a crude injection into the elegant Kryptonian storage logic, almost offensive in its obviousness.

"dxe5 Nxe5 Nxe5 Bxe5..." Kara recited, reading the file name. "Is it some sort of code?"

"In a manner of speaking," Lena said. She tucked her hands into her pockets and lifted her chin, adopting her usual imperious affect that was far more recognizable in a boardroom than somewhere under a glacier. "It's a chess gambit."

Kara set the tablet down, watching her carefully. "They left _you_ a message," she said.

"_Another_ message," Lena corrected. "I'm fairly certain that note in the warehouse was also directed to me." She clenched her jaw, fighting back the anger and fear of knowing a powerful, dangerous organization was targeting her personally. "The contents of the file are encrypted. I'd like to take it back with us, along with a data core."

"Lena..." Kara murmured.

"If that's allowed," Lena continued, with a shrug. "I know the DEO has 'procedures,' and I don't know the chain of custody requirements for Kryptonian technology..."

Kara lifted her free hand to Lena's shoulder, gently stilling the discursive ramble. "That part's easy. Everything here is mine, and I'll share it with you," she said.

Lena nodded. Her eyes shone with barely restrained tears. "I am _so_ sorry," she said, in a shaky voice. "They had no right to intrude in this place. This is your sanctuary, the remnant of your home... And they've _contaminated_ it."

With a wince, Kara looked around. It was hard to argue the point, with the mess Cadmus had left behind.

"To think I was ever presumptuous enough to be disappointed that you were hiding your identity from me," Lena murmured.

"Lena," Kara said with a sigh.

"When it's increasingly obvious that our relationship only exposes you to further risk..."

Kara leaned in, interrupting the litany of familial recrimination, and eliminating the remaining space between them. "Hey, whoa. This is what they _want_," she said quietly. "They want to make us feel like nowhere is safe, like there's no refuge." She watched Lena take a deep breath to steady herself, then pressed a kiss to Lena's forehead. "But I have never felt safer than when I'm with you," Kara murmured against chilled skin. 

When she pulled away, Lena turned sad eyes up to meet hers. She didn't say anything, but Kara could feel the anguish like she was screaming it.

In shared silence, they packed up to return home. It was dark by the time Kara flew them southward, slow and careful with Lena in her arms. 

Somewhere over the shores of a remote lake, Kara slowed to a hover, whispering Lena's name to coax her to uncurl from her spot tucked against Kara's shoulder.

From crystal clear skies, far from any human dwelling, the stars blazed downward in stunning incandescence, as the edge of the Milky Way shimmered vividly across the night.

Lena exhaled, making a faint noise of wonder. Kara drifted to the ground and gently set Lena on her feet, then settled behind her, with her arms wound around Lena's waist.

"I don't know how to be worthy of this," Lena admitted in a whisper. "Of you. Of your friends. Of your trust."

Kara hummed against her. "That's okay. I'll just keep hanging around until you figure out that you're _more_ than worthy. That you always have been."

* * *

The same clear skies had drawn Alex's pensive gaze as she stared out her bedroom window, nursing a glass of room temperature water. She took a loud gulp and briefly contemplated switching to scotch instead.

"Hey, Danvers. What's on your mind over there?" came Maggie's sleepy voice from across the room.

Alex frowned, trying to articulate the odd anxiety chewing away at the back of her brain. She set down her glass and sighed. "Do you think we should fight more?"

"Kara will be back in the morning," Maggie drawled. "You can spar with her."

"No, I meant us," Alex said. "You and me."

"You wanna fight with me?"

"No," Alex said. She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "But we hardly ever _do_ fight. That's weird, right? My friends in school always fought with their boyfriends."

"Honey." 

Somehow the word was utterly patronizing, but in a ridiculously charming way. It did nothing to ease Alex's consternation. "I mean, I dunno. This seems too easy, is all." She leaned against the windowsill, and rocked a bit with fidgety energy.

Maggie finally roused enough squint at Alex's silhouette against the starlight. "You take too long in the shower and you leave bits of toothpaste in the sink," she declared.

Alex looked at her, eyes wide in surprise.

"It's gross," Maggie continued. "You wanted something to fight about. There you go: Your gross, wasteful bathroom habits."

"Excuse _me_, Ms. Vegan-but-kale-turns-my-insides-into-a-toxic-wasteland," Alex protested. "If we're talking bathroom habits..."

Maggie laughed, low and throaty, with her face half smushed into her pillow. It was quite possibly the most attractive thing Alex had ever seen, and she bit her lip.

"You're not taking this seriously," Alex complained.

Maggie sighed, and pushed up to lean on one elbow. "Danvers, love doesn't _have_ to be all agonizing and contentious. Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes you find someone who you wanna fight beside, not against. I think that's pretty lucky."

Alex was quiet, thinking that over. "You said 'love.'"

"Yeah. So did you, the other day at the warehouse. Don't think I missed that. You're not subtle."

Alex pushed away from the window, slid into bed. then turned on her side, facing Maggie, looking at her with wide, worried eyes. "But it's not supposed to go this way, right? Fall for the first pretty girl who catches your eye, then live happily ever after?"

"Why not? Why can't it just be that awesome?"

"You don't think less of me?"

"For falling in love and having it stick the first time? Hell, Danvers, we should all be so lucky." She smirked. "Oh wait. I'm here too. I totally _am_ that lucky. Go me." She reached out from under the sheet to find Alex's hand, and hooked their pinky fingers together. "We'll bump into the hard stuff eventually, you know? It's okay to enjoy the easy parts until then."

It didn't completely settle the nervous burn in Alex's gut, but she tried to borrow some of her girlfriend's confidence. She took a deep breath, then felt her face split in a wide, goofy smile. "You totally love me," she said, in quiet delight.

"You totally loved me first," Maggie countered, already mostly asleep again. "Be adorable in the morning, okay?"


	6. Chapter 6

After they'd returned from the Fortress, Lena more or less disappeared. She surfaced once a day or so at Kara's behest for food, or for fresh air (which, coincidentally, tended to include making out on her office balcony), but mostly she submerged herself in deep research and the tedium of company operations. When pressed, she claimed she was focused on decrypting the contents of the file Cadmus had left for her to find.

"Oh, that. Yeah, she's obsessed," Maggie declared, as she stole a french fry from Alex's plate.

They were at Alex's third-favorite dive bar, for the sake of variety. As they started in on their first round of cheap booze and fried food, Kara sighed, and poked idly at her own pile of fries, pretending that the empty chair beside her during Danvers' Double Date Night wasn't bothering her. After all, she hadn't explicitly _invited_ Lena out that evening, but rather unsubtly hinted that she'd be taking some time to unwind, and was missing her girlfriend.

"I mean, it makes total sense, though," Maggie continued, waving the stolen fry around in a philosophical gesture. "She can't just 'be a decent person' like the rest of us. She thinks she has like three hundred percent extra work to do to make up for everyone else named Luthor."

At that, Kara pushed her plate away entirely. Alex reared a bit in alarm. "Hey," she said, quietly.

Kara only shrugged, keeping her eyes on the table as she poked tiny dents into the steel surface.

Alex threw a worried glance over at Maggie, who made a valiant effort to lift the mood.

"But, you know, at least she's dating someone who feels the need to save the world on the regular to make up for her _own_ family's xenophobic tendencies," Maggie offered, with forced cheer. "So, hey... squad goals?"

Alex smacked herself in the forehead. "Smooth, Sawyer," she muttered.

Thankfully, Kara wasn't paying much attention to either of them. "I _hate_ that she doesn't feel like she's enough," she murmured.

Maggie reached across the table and prodded Kara a bit. "That's... not really something you can fix," she countered, gently. "You can't make people believe something different than the story they tell themselves."

At that, Alex set her beer bottle down with a thunk, feeling that particular observation all the way to her bones. She sighed, and pulled out her phone to fire off a quick text. "Maggie's right," she agreed, quietly. "You can't just believe in Lena hard enough that you magically offset the impact of her entire upbringing."

"I can _try_," Kara grumbled. "I mean... you guys trust her now, right?"

"Sure. She's more than proven herself," Maggie said easily. She gave Alex an expectant look.

Alex drained the last of her beer, then leaned into the table. Her brow creased deeply as she considered the question. "I think... she cares about _you_. A lot." She shrugged. "That's good enough for me."

It wasn't exactly a full-throated endorsement. Kara sighed, and fidgeted for a bit while Alex and Maggie bickered over which appetizer they'd order next.

A few minutes later, Kara whipped her head around toward the door to spot the owner of a very particular heartbeat. "Lena!" she called in delight, before bounding over and capturing her in a gentle, but heartfelt hug.

"Hi," Lena murmured, hugging her back. "I hope you don't mind that I've crashed your evening with your sister..."

"Of course not," Kara said emphatically, as she dragged Lena toward their table. She looked to Alex and Maggie for validation, and they both smiled gamely in response.

"Good to see you, Lena," Alex said. She kicked the spare chair away from the table in invitation. "Come have cheap beer with us."

Lena perched on the rickety chair with innate, regal grace, and nodded in approval. "Cheap beer and a shot of absolutely bottom-shelf whiskey," she corrected, with an elegantly-cocked eyebrow. "You're buying."

Alex immediately agreed and ambled off to the bar.

Lena eyeballed the cold plate of fries on the table, then gave Kara a pointed look. "You're not eating?"

Maggie coughed a bit, then muttered an excuse about helping Alex with the drinks. She slid out from behind the booth and hurried away, leaving Kara and Lena alone.

"I'm so glad you came," Kara said in a small voice.

"Thank your sister for that," Lena said dryly. She pulled out her phone to quote Alex's text directly. "'K's not eating. Stop being an idiot and fix it.' Followed by a GPS ping off your phone."

Kara snorted, and hid her face in her hands. "Oh boy. Sorry about that. She means well, she just has the subtlety of a car crash."

"It was effective," Lena said, with a delicate shrug. She could feel Kara's smile on her profile as she cast curious eyes around the dim, shabby bar.

"I've been worried about you," Kara murmured.

"I'm _fine_," Lena replied, low and insistent.

"You're not, and you're not talking about it."

Lena frowned, and couldn't find a reply before Alex and Maggie returned with a tray of drinks.

Kara recoiled a bit from the harsh reek of cheap alcohol, even as Lena grabbed a shot and knocked it back with aplomb. She took the accompanying beer and tilted it toward Alex in thanks.

"Kara says you're wallowing," Maggie said, embracing the awkwardness before the silence could turn uncomfortable. "So what's up?"

Lena exhaled a chuckle despite herself. Maggie's bluntness was such a refreshing change from the hooded motivations of her day-to-day business dealings. She took a sip of her beer and studied the three women peering back at her with honest concern.

This was such a strange feeling, being caught in Supergirl's orbit, with Supergirl's friends... And if she were being honest, it had literally not occurred to her that she _could_ talk about this, or that she had people in her life who would lend support.

"You know about my family," she began, mostly for Maggie's benefit.

"The headlines, the rap sheets, the occasional homicidal rampages," Maggie replied, with a shrug.

"Yes, well. I was led to believe I was an orphan," Lena continued. "That I was a Luthor in name only, and that I was merely an object of their generosity. Recent events have... shed light on the truth of that matter."

She looked over to Kara in question, unsure if Kara had already divulged as much. Kara pressed her lips together in a subtle way that said, _not my news to tell_. Lena smiled a bit, and tilted her head.

"Lionel Luthor was Lena's biological father," Kara supplied quietly, granted that silent permission.

Maggie and Alex both blinked in surprise. "Well, shit," Maggie muttered.

"Indeed," Lena said, wryly. "Which means my family ties are much more twisted than I had ever known. It also means that I am the single avenue to access the numerous resources Lex left behind, stashed behind locks that only open with a particular genetic key." She took a long pull from her beer and sighed. "Which means Cadmus suddenly sees my comparative value to their plans."

"Did you decode the file they left at the Fortress?" Kara asked.

Lena nodded, slowly. "It was encrypted using one of Lex's preferred cyphers. It contained an address, here in National City, and a message. 'Your family needs you.'" She finally looked over to see Kara was watching her with intense, worried eyes. The other women at the table receded to the rear of her attention, and she focused on Kara's face. "I've spent the past three days tracking the property listings near that address, and performing electronic surveillance of the surrounding blocks."

"Federal agent, totally not hearing this part," Alex muttered, coughing and ruefully downing the last of her beer.

"In another life, I would take control of those electronic systems one by one, repurpose them for my own defense, and take out a billboard across the street to tell my mother to burn in hell. I'd taunt her into confronting me alone, and _I would take her down_," Lena spat, with barely hidden venom, before blinking and leaning away from the table, as if suddenly remembering her surroundings. 

"But in _this_ life... my girlfriend's sister texted me and told me my girlfriend wasn't eating," she concluded. "So here I am."

Kara bumped against her gently. "Thank you for coming here, and for not doing something stupid on your own."

Lena rolled her eyes, aware of the faint flush crawling up her cheeks as the effect of alcohol radiated across her system. "I'm stubborn, but I'm not _hopeless_," she said. "It's just... this is new, having friends."

"_Family_," Kara corrected. She leaned in to press a kiss to Lena's temple. "We're here with you, and we'll figure out how to stop Cadmus, together," she promised. "We'll talk to J'onn in the morning."

"We've got your back," Maggie agreed.

Alex nodded, and leaned forward with a deeply serious expression. "You want another shitty beer?"

Lena laughed, a choked sound. "Definitely," she replied. She found Kara's hand and squeezed it, feeling a shaky kind of triumph.

While Alex waited at the bar for their next rounds, she peered back at the table, relieved to see Kara smiling in that utterly infatuated way that only Lena could induce. She shook her head in amusement, then spotted Maggie grinning back at her, with dimples at full deployment. Alex blushed, and let herself acknowledge that Kara might not be the only Danvers sister who was infatuated.

For half a second, she let her sense of badass self feel just the slightest bit threatened by the absolutely ridiculous warmth and softness that had parked somewhere in her chest these past few months. She sighed, then she turned back to the bartender to order that hummus that Maggie liked so much.

* * *

The evening wore through several rounds of drinks and fried food before Alex tapped out in deference to work the next day. Alex and Maggie took turns hugging Kara and Lena goodbye at the curb at the front of the bar, then giggled a lot when they climbed into a cab to head home.

The evening was pleasantly cool after a brief rain shower, and since they were only a handful of blocks from Lena's penthouse, Kara offered to walk her home. The streets were damp, and the cars driving by were loud across the pavement and occasional puddle. Kara murmured something about it being a pleasant kind of white noise that reminded her of the ocean, but otherwise they didn't say much while they strolled toward the tallest building looming over National City's uptown district.

Kara was well-practiced at matching human walking pace, but she could definitely feel the drag as they moved more and more slowly toward the warm lights of the lobby spilling across the sidewalk ahead.

She could hear the shakiness of Lena's breath, the lurching acceleration of her heart rate. She took Lena's hand, tugging her out of the glare of the street lamps, guessing the darkness against a nearby building's steel and concrete would feel a little safer.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Kara breathed.

Lena clenched her jaw. "I don't..." She sighed. In the shadows, with the sharp edge of her mind dulled by alcohol, it was easy to forget that she was one of the most powerful women in the world, letting her hand slide around the waist of _the_ most powerful woman in the world. She shook her head, and felt her eyes swim with sudden tears.

"You've been avoiding going home," Kara murmured, in quiet realization. "I mean, I've seen the lights on in your office when I fly by late at night," she continued. "Not that I've been checking up on you, because that's definitely not what I've been doing." She took a breath. "Making this weird, I know. But... you're definitely avoiding going home right now." She canted her head, giving Lena a worried expression. "Lena, what's wrong with home?"

The answer didn't come easily. Lena shut her eyes against the gentle earnestness of Kara's entire... thing... that she was doing, with the face, and the arms, and the shoulder Lena just wanted to hide against.

Her head was just a little off balance, and her defenses were just a little fatigued, allowing a familiar litany of miserable, ancient loneliness to rattle like static across her brain.

_It's not "home." It's just a place to sleep and pretend to be a normal person. It's an empty, cavernous apartment with too much room to think. You have no place here, no one to call your own..._

Rather than answer, Lena shifted, tugging Kara close and nosing against Kara's neck. She sighed in relief when Kara's arms closed carefully around her.

"Are you worried about Cadmus?" Kara asked, still firmly in "fixer" mode. "Or paparazzi? Or..."

"Kara," Lena murmured.

"Yup, still making this weird," Kara said. "Sorry."

Lena smiled and leaned back up to look into Kara's gentle, concerned eyes. "No need to apologize. I've been... stressed. And I'm afraid my coping skills likely leave something to be desired."

"You can always ask for help, you know?"

Lena exhaled a tiny, rueful laugh. "I didn't know that, actually."

Kara nodded. "And not just from me. Alex would help, or Winn, or J'onn..." She trailed off with a shrug. 

"J'onn. The director of the DEO. I would... what? Call him and ask him to tuck me in because I'm feeling extra pathetic tonight? Because _that_ wouldn't be awkward at all."

"Oh, it'd be _incredibly_ awkward," Kara countered, with a mischievous look. "But he'd do it anyway. For you." She shrugged a bit and started to pull away. "Do you want to call him? I could go..."

"_Stop_," Lena pleaded, laughing as she grabbed hold of Kara's sleeves to keep her in place. "Help me, Supergirl. Please."

Kara pretended to think about it for a moment, peering at Lena with narrowed eyes. "Okay," she agreed. "But only because you're _really_ cute." She bent to place a gentle peck on Lena's lips, then waited, expectantly.

"Would you... stay with me?" Lena asked, in a quiet, halting voice.

"Of course, if you want me to."

"I _want_..." Lena began. The words felt thick, stuck in her throat.

_I want to be strong enough on my own. I don't want to be a burden. I want to be worthy of the way you look at me._

She heaved a breath, and blinked against the traitorous tears gathering in her eyes. "Sometimes it's hard to be alone," Lena concluded, with a shrug meant to minimize the years of anguish behind her words.

"Well, you're not alone tonight," Kara whispered. "C'mon." She tugged Lena away from the refuge of the city's shadows, and held her hand the remaining steps to Lena's building, all the way up the elevator and into her penthouse.

There, they separated long enough to get ready for bed, and Kara used just a touch of superspeed to make sure she was curled in bed before Lena emerged from the bathroom, wearing an oversized sleep shirt and blotting a towel against her freshly washed face.

Lena stepped toward the bed, watching Kara watch her back with hooded eyes. She had a guess that Kara carried her own baggage about being alone, that this was a kind of damage they shared. That explained the understanding, the easy acceptance and willingness to help.

Somewhere between heartbeats, Lena came to an abrupt decision, dropped the towel, and lunged into the bed, utterly certain that Kara would meet her crashing kiss and desperate grasp, utterly certain that her frenzy would only temper under Kara's sure, careful touch.

She was right - and found that she had some power to soothe Kara's oldest wounds, as well.

* * *

The next morning, Lena paced the length of J'onn's office as she relayed the results of her research. Maggie, Alex, and J'onn sat and watched her attentively, and Kara stood in the corner with her hands planted on her hips, doing a poor job of hiding her agitation.

"The address from the file is a condemned building outside the warehouse district," Lena explained. "I counted no fewer than eight encrypted video feeds targeting the surrounding lots, and six signatures for what I presume are standalone biometric identification systems based on Lex's security tech," she added, indicating the associated hot zones on a satellite photo on the large wall monitor.

"So if you were to go within a hundred yards of that building..." Alex began.

"I'd expect to 'disappear,' quickly and thoroughly," Lena concluded. "And with the unmapped service tunnels linking several of the nearby properties, Cadmus would have a significant head start before you could even begin to track me down." She folded her hands in front of her in a prim gesture. "And since I could not calculate the relative value versus risk of following this particular lead, I'm here. Not there," she said, with a nod to the monitor.

J'onn nodded. "I understand the temptation to take on Cadmus on your own," he said. "I'm glad you didn't do anything rash."

Lena was surprised, still, at the compassionate response to the disclosure of this latest threat. She was expecting rebuke and distrust due to her sheer proximity to her family's misdeeds. Instead, Cadmus was just a problem to be solved, and she was just part of the team trying to solve it. It was strangely comforting...

... until Winn burst into the office, heedless of the tension in the air.

"There's a mole," he said, breathlessly waving his tablet around. "In the DEO. A mole. Cadmus has a _mole_. Here!!"

All in all, he'd expected the revelation to be a bit more dramatic. The only person who looked even vaguely surprised was Kara, and honestly, that might have been linguistic confusion more than actual alarm.

"_Another_ mole?" Alex asked, as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. Lena and J'onn only sighed.

"Anoth... no, just the one. Unless... you _knew_ about the mole?!" Winn cried. "But _how_? I just discovered him like eight minutes ago, and just figured out the target of his outbound communication like _three_ minutes ago!"

Maggie raised a hand, ready to venture a guess. "Well, she's a genius, he's psychic, she's a paranoid secret agent," she said, pointing to Lena, J'onn, and Alex in turn. "Of course they knew."

"Thanks, babe," Alex said, bumping against her.

"Hey! What about me?" Kara yelped.

"Oh, you're sunshine and rainbows, sweetie," Maggie said. "You didn't need to know."

Kara scowled, not sure how to take that. Lena strolled to her side and patted her arm. Kara leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Just so I'm clear: 'mole,' as in the little underground mammal things?" She wiggled her fingers in a gesture that implied whiskers, or claws, or scurrying, or... something.

"'Mole,' as in an espionage agent," Lena explained, matching Kara's quiet voice.

"Oh." Kara shook herself. "Wait. _Why_ would you just let a known espionage agent continue to have access to DEO resources?!"

"Have you ever heard the expression 'useful idiot?'" Alex asked.

"Yes," Kara and Winn lied at once.

Alex smirked, and brought up a dedicated surveillance camera view of the young, twitchy agent in question. "Blackie Sarto. Smalltime jewel thief, using a stolen identity to pose as a junior analyst. Absolutely _terrible_ at his supposed job. Lena's algorithm spotted him a mile off, so we've kept him contained."

"If he's 'contained,' how is Cadmus getting actionable information?" Winn asked, waving his tablet as evidence of the extent of the threat.

"Because they're receiving legitimate code-signed packets via a local access point," Lena explained. "Packets Alex has personally sanitized."

"With your help," Alex said, with a gracious nod.

"You've been feeding Cadmus bogus intel," Kara said. Her face lit up in delighted admiration.

"I've been playing my advantage," Lena admitted. "My mother never was very good at chess."

"_I'm_ good at chess," Winn insisted. "And _I'm_ the tech guy..." He paled, and looked down at his tablet. "Did you say 'local access point?'"

Lena smiled. "L-Corp Command and Control," she explained. "It's been active on your network for months. I recently _repurposed_ it."

"But you... you've only had access to the DEO for like three weeks!"

"Yes, well. Apparently your infosec team didn't inspect the complimentary flash drives we gave out during the gala," Lena said, as she casually inspected the impeccable finish of her manicure.

"The purple ones? The ones that light up?" Winn's gaze flicked away, out the open office door and over to his workstation, focusing on the purple LED merrily flickering away.

"Usually our competitors and guests are smart enough to scrub any tech handed out at those kinds of events before connecting them to corporate resources," Lena said, with a devastatingly innocent look. "Usually."

Winn wilted, not quite able to look any of them in the eye.

J’onn sighed, and directed his attention to Alex. "It seems our 'idiot' has outlived his usefulness. Have him located and processed."

"Yes, sir!" Alex nodded eagerly. "I really hope he resists," she stage-whispered to Maggie before she stalked out of the office.

Maggie smiled fondly after her, then cast a look over to Lena. "Mind if I use your files for some probable cause?"

"Already in your email," Lena said.

"Nice." Maggie grinned. "I'll let you know what SWAT and CSI dig up." She nodded and followed Alex's lead out of the office.

Lena lifted her chin in her usual businesslike manner, feeling lighter, more triumphant than she had in a very long while. "Since we're done here, I have a board meeting to attend. See me out, Supergirl?"

Kara grinned, and bumped against Winn on her way out. "She's _so smart_," she whispered, in utter glee.

Winn could only manage a whimper of a response. His face was drawn in a deeply pained wince, knowing he was left for last on purpose. "So on a scale of one to high-crimes-and-misdemeanors, how fired am I?"

J'onn stood, and took slow, deliberate steps to stand in front of Winn. "Mr. Schott," he pronounced, in a low growl. "It would seem our computer systems are due for a sector-level security audit. I suggest you get started."

Winn groaned dramatically. "Are you _sure_ you can't just have me drawn and quartered instead?"

* * *

"I have to admit this is a little uncomfortable," Eliza murmured, as she flipped through the file Kara had dropped on her counter.

Kara paused halfway through her third slice of apple pie. "Whfs unvofrtbl?" she blurted, with her mouth full.

Eliza shook her head and smiled. "Working backwards, and trying to think like Cadmus," she said. "They went looking for something specific about you and your cousin, with a specific intent in mind. I don't like trying to imagine how an evil person could use this information to hurt you."

Kara had finally swallowed her snack, and winced as she scrubbed her face with a napkin. "Yeah, sorry about that," she murmured. "I really appreciate your help, though."

With a mild hum, Eliza went through the file a second time, and started jotting down markers in the margins. The file access logs were puzzling, to say the least. _Basic_ DNA records, _basic_ biology, _basic_ suppositions from Kryptonian scientists about the effects of a yellow sun. Cadmus had already taken Kara's blood, and used Kryptonian biotech to engineer an attack on aliens - they were well past "basic" research.

There was a pattern, but she wasn't yet seeing it. She sighed and looked up from her work to see Kara smiling at her phone. She watched her adopted daughter for a moment. "Chatting with anyone special?" Eliza finally asked, with a knowing lift of her chin.

Kara looked up, blushing just a bit. "Oh, it's Lena."

Eliza couldn't help but smile at the shy expression on Kara's face. "Lena Luthor? She _texts_ you?"

Kara chuckled. "Sort of. She's _really_ bad at it. I overcompensate by sending way too many emoji." She turned her phone toward Eliza to demonstrate the spew of symbols across the screen.

"What do those even mean?" Eliza asked.

"I have no idea," Kara admitted, with a sunny grin. "I just like sending her random things during the day so she knows I'm thinking about her. Like..." She scrolled through the options on her phone, then selected a symbol. "There. A carrot."

Eliza shook her head with a bemused smile. "That's kind of adorable, kiddo."

Kara wasn't quite listening, instead staring off into space. She set down the phone and faced Eliza squarely. "Lena's family has hurt ours. A lot."

It was a blunt, accurate statement that made Eliza's insides clench with anger she rarely let herself feel. She pressed suddenly shaking hands against the counter and took a deep breath. "Yes. They have."

Kara gave her a deeply pained look. "I'm not... Alex thinks I've forgotten that. She thinks I don't think about Jeremiah or Clark every single day, but I do."

"I know you do," Eliza said.

"It's just... Loving Lena doesn't mean I love the rest of my family any less."

Eliza's eyebrows shot up. She'd been expecting something like Alex's awkward stammering admission about having a crush on _a girl_, not a straight up declaration of love. Rather than react to the choice of words, she reached out and stroked Kara's hair. "Of course not, honey."

Kara fidgeted a bit. "She's... She's been through so much, you know?" she said in a small voice. "Her family is full of awful, xenophobic, sociopathic... _jerks_," she spat, with unusual disgust. "But she is so kind, and so _strong_."

Eliza smiled gently. "And that's saying something, coming from you."

Kara was already shaking her head. "She's stronger than I am. I've always had people around who loved and supported me, even when everything was so hard. She never did, but look who she is despite all that. She's not a 'Luthor' the way people use that as an insult. She's a good person. An _amazing_ person."

Eliza bumped a hip against the counter and folded her arms. "Out of curiosity, how many times have you had this conversation with your sister?"

"Like twice a week," Kara muttered. "It's getting better, though."

"I thought so. It's not always easy to judge people by their own merits," Eliza said. "That's kind of a gift you have, sweetie."

"Lena's special," Kara said. She looked out the window with a wistful expression.

"Yes, she is," Eliza agreed. "And you should probably get back over there and tell her that. I'll read over the files and call you when I know more."

Kara lit up, then clobbered Eliza with a hug. "I'll be back over the weekend, okay?"

"I want to meet this girl," Eliza called after Kara as she zipped away. She shook her head in bemusement, then sat down at her laptop to research.

* * *

Lena had just wrapped a teleconference with investors in Tokyo when a gentle knock came on the door to the balcony. She let Kara in with a smile.

"Weren't you visiting Eliza today?" she managed to ask, before being scooped into a breathtakingly gentle hug.

Secretly, Lena hoped she'd never get used to Kara's touch. Hands stronger than steel slid up her back, cradling her with a care she'd never known before. Lena responded by wrapping her arms around Kara's shoulders and pressing her face into Kara's neck. Kara's embrace was all safety and comfort alongside awareness and desire, and it alternately made Lena's muscles go limp and her blood start to burn.

After a long minute, Lena pulled back to get a look at Kara's face. "Are you all right?" she asked, putting a hand to Kara's shoulder.

"Yeah," Kara said, with a genuine, bashful smile. "Just really wanted to hug you right then."

Lena's expression was charmed, if a bit overwhelmed. "Well, that's lucky. I've been thinking about you all day."

"Because of the emoji texts, right?" Kara asked slyly. "I _knew_ it." She leaned in, and whispered conspiratorially. "I'm really good at this girlfriend thing."

Lena laughed, bright and sweet. "You absolutely _are_," she agreed. "Though it is a bit confusing; for someone who doesn't care for vegetables, they seem to make up a majority of your texting vocabulary."

"And just for that, starting tomorrow I'll go through the flags of the world," Kara replied. "Ha."

Lena grinned, enjoying the moment of utterly banal banter, even though she could see the lingering unease crinkling Kara's brow. "You _do_ know how to woo a girl," she said.

"Yeah," Kara said, with a sigh. "Funny you should say that. I've been feeling a little _Romeo and Juliet_ lately."

"So you came to see me on my balcony." Lena canted her head in amusement. "'O Supergirl, Supergirl! Wherefore art thou Supergirl?'" She folded her arms and leaned in closer, with a playful grin. "'Be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Luthor,'" she concluded, lifting a teasing eyebrow.

Kara sighed. "I wasn't actually joking," she complained.

Lena put a hand to Kara's cheek, tilting her dejected gaze upward. "Neither was I," she said mildly. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"It seems silly, now," Kara admitted.

Lena waited patiently.

"I was telling Eliza how amazing you are," Kara said finally. "And how extra hard it is that we have all this family... stuff." She clenched her jaw and cast her eyes toward the sparking lights of the city below. "I got a little anxious."

"About?" Lena asked, outwardly calm despite the tendril of worry curling in her gut.

Kara chuckled ruefully. "That you might just decide to forget about all this and find someone less complicated."

"Do you... _want_ someone less complicated?" Lena asked in a hesitant voice.

"I want _you_," Kara said, immediate and sure.

"You _have_ me," Lena replied, just as immediate, just as sure. She reached out and grabbed one of Kara's hands, and tangled their fingers together. "Even when it's complicated."

It was the right thing to say; Kara's shoulders dropped, and she blew out an explosive sigh, just enough to rattle the glass in Lena's office windows. "Okay," Kara said. She held Lena's hand against her chest, and nodded. "Okay," she said again. She dipped her head and smiled in relief, which meant she didn't see Lena's matching expression.

"Listen," Lena said, low and quiet into the tentative peace. "I have a few things to wrap up here. If I placed an order for an obscene amount of Chinese takeout, would you pick it up and meet me at your place in an hour?"

Kara grinned. "That sounds perfect."

Lena rocked upward on her toes to plant a kiss on Kara's forehead, then sent her on her way.

* * *

Lillian let herself preen, just a little, as she basked in the fruits of her son's brilliance. Cadmus had located and reappropriated a Luthor Corp storage container from the National City docks while the DEO had been occupied by that diversion at the warehouse, and it had yielded a particularly abundant haul of revelatory Luthor-Tech-in-Progress.

Her agents weren't entirely sure what to do with the half-completed weapons, or the hard drives brimming with scraps of code that could breach the most secure systems on the planet. It was aggravating, really, being surrounded by dullards so devoid of imagination.

She sighed when an agent scurried up alongside her.

"M-ma'am?" he stammered, then waited for her to tilt her head in permission to proceed. "NCPD raided location Tango Six this morning. Our spotters say Federal agents have been called in for digital forensics."

"Interesting," Lillian allowed. "But ultimately a low-value asset."

"Yes, ma'am," the agent agreed. He waited, awkwardly, having learned to speak only when spoken to.

She let him wait while she sauntered along past fragments of tech, trailing her fingers across an unfinished Lexosuit prototype. If she had a single disappointment in regard to her son (besides the criminal volatility), it was his tendency to get distracted between monumental inventions. Lena had much greater capacity for follow-through, even when it was hamstrung by that irksome moral superiority.

"Is there something else?" she asked, when she'd tired of the agent's obsequious trailing.

"Yes, ma'am. Our resource in the DEO has now missed three consecutive check-ins..."

Lillian pursed her lips. "So either they found him, or he got a better offer," she concluded, then shrugged. "Whatever. Another low-value asset."

"Yes, ma'am," the agent agreed, risking her wrath by interjecting. "But we did receive a single encoded message from his access point, one hour ago." He handed over a piece of paper, then fled before she could dismiss him.

**WE SHOULD TALK**

There was no signature. There was none needed. Lillian crumpled the paper in her hand and smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
